The Dragon Pirate
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: AU. Hiccup has done it. He has trained a Night Fury and ended 300 years of bloodshed... But he doesn't return. He wants to escape his abusive father and the horrible tribe of thugs and just live and travel with Toothless. But with so many enemies around, and a brutal act, Hiccup makes a massive decision for how he lives his life. He becomes a Dragon Pirate, the first of his kind.
1. Chapter 1 The End of the War

Disclaimer - I don't own How to train your Dragon, just this little corner of fanfiction.

A/N - My first HTTYD story, I hope you enjoy it. I'm so excited!

Please leave feedback.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

Hiccup could hear the sound of the Dragon Queen's wings as they beat the air as the massive and very angry dragon flew behind him and Toothless, furious with their defiance and how the Night Fury had fired his plasma bursts at her massive wings. Hiccup didn't need to look behind him to know the behemoth was chasing them down to the ground again, he could feel them; the force created by the wings as the massive behemoth chased him and Toothless out of the clouds and straight down to the ground again only served to propel Toothless as he flew down as fast and as safely as they could; the pair of them had spent many hours practising flight with the prosthetic tail-fin until they metaphorically became one-minded and could anticipate what the other planned to do.

The constant change in altitude and the residual ashes which were left over when the Dragon Queen had become tired of her wings being targeted and had blasted a stream of fire much like the one she had breathed on the entire fleet of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, virtually stranding the Vikings on the volcanic island.

The ashes were raining down from the cloud now and they still stung Hiccup's currently only working eye while the other half closed thanks to his father's fist.

As he concentrated on guiding Toothless down while more than aware that the Night Fury's prosthetic tail-fin had caught a bit of the fire, but not enough for the young Viking to worry about though he knew he'd have to repair it at some point - the best he could do at the moment was keeping an eye on it, Hiccup thought about recent events and how they'd invariably led to this latest mess.

When he had found out about the massive Queen Dragon, Hiccup had finally understood the rules of the war, and they weren't the simple beliefs that the Vikings of the Barbaric Archipelago thought them to be, and what Hiccup had once believed himself and what had been passed down amongst the many tribes who had fought, for what they'd considered being their own survival.

But like so many things believed by Vikings, it was false.

The Queen roared again, triumphantly as she realised that she had the little human and his dragon, a traitor in her eyes just like Hiccup was considered a traitor in the eyes of his former tribe trapped on a one-way journey to the ground. But Hiccup focused on the flight downwards, resisting the urge to look behind him and see what the Queen was doing; he didn't need to, he knew she was close behind them. He wondered if all those years she had been in the nest had blinded the intelligence he knew dragons were capable of because the Queen didn't seem to realise the dangers behind this dive.

But he couldn't help but take the second to think.

What he'd seen had been another episode in the drama that had changed his life forever ever since he had made the decision to spare Toothless from death when he'd tracked the downed Night Fury in the forest outside the village.

As the massive Dragon Queen chased after them, Hiccup had the chance to think about everything that had happened over his life.

For the last decade, Hiccup, formerly Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, had been seen as a runt by the rest of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, the shame and embarrassment of all of them, particularly his father, who also happened to be the Chief of the tribe. Stoick the Vast. Stoick had some pretty clear ideas of what a son or daughter should be. In Stoick's mind, a son of his should be a mirror image of himself; big, burly, with much of his body mass going into his muscles instead of his brain, single-minded when it came to dragons and wanting to become a killer of dragons who would gladly slaughter as many dragons as he could, in the case of a girl Stoick would have wanted a daughter who was a darker haired version of Astrid Hofferson, a girl who was strong of will and body, training 24/7 and dedicated to wiping out dragons without drawing a breath.

But instead, he got a runt. A runt who talked and thought, one who would rather draw and explore the land around him and not care about training.

Hiccup had long since stopped caring about what his father had wanted, ever since his father had started to hit him as a kid. It started when he was seven years old. In a way, it was all Stoick's fault when the chief realised that his son would never be what he had wanted, and so he had come up with the solution; just make him into the blacksmith's apprentice to make him gain those bulging muscles. Gobber the Belch hadn't liked it, but over time the pair of them had developed an almost father/son bond, something Hiccup had never had with Stoick.

And never would, Hiccup thought to himself almost sadly but he quickly threw the thought away; dwelling on it wouldn't change what had just happened on Berk, and so he turned his mind back to when he had made his father so angry that Stoick had punched him in the face.

It had happened when Hiccup, in an effort to make his father see that while his own son didn't have muscles that bulged, but had a mind that could help create machines and devices that could make life easier for the Viking tribe, had designed and built a number of outlandish machines and devices, but they always caused destruction thanks to the stupidity of the other kids.

Snotlout and his lackeys, Ruffnut and Tuffnut who didn't have a brain cell between them, had taken it upon themselves to make his life on Berk a living hell. Hiccup wasn't stupid; he knew Snotlout had only done it at first because he hated the thought of his weakling cousin becoming the next chief when Stock either became incapable of still being chief or more probably a dragon might get lucky and finally kill him. But over the years and as it became clear to his father and the rest of the tribe that he wasn't seen as chief material despite being Stoick's only child, the decision to pass the role onto Snotlout was made.

When Snotlout and the others realised that he was building machines, they had taken it upon themselves to ruin his life. They sabotaged each one, and it caused tremendous amounts of damage to the village. Snotlout and his idiot lackeys had loved every minute of it while the older Vikings had not been happy.

But Hiccup had persevered. He had not stopped trying, although that ended when his father had punched him. Hiccup frowned even as he heard the massive Queen growl behind him, and he felt a growing heat on the back of his neck.

The Queen was behind them blasting them both with her fire. He leaned over the head of the Night Fury. "C'mon bud," he whispered desperately, "just a little further….."

But as they flew closer to the ground, Hiccup couldn't help but remember the past and how his life had changed when he had first received a punch from his father.

He had tried to make a machine that could chop wood. Oh, it could chop alright, it had destroyed a wall and damaged a few storehouses before it was smashed to pieces by his father.

Stoick had been furious. Not only had his own son destroyed a large slice of the village, but the machine had caused some injuries. The twins and their boss had been howling with laughter, but Hiccup had not been laughing. Stoick had screamed and roared at him in his rage, but when Hiccup had tried to get through to his father that was too much. Stock punched him in the face, the force sending his screaming seven-year-old into a wall of there - no, Stoick's house; that place was not home to him. It was a prison.

Stoick had looked askance at his fist, but he had scoffed in disgust when he had seen his son crying at the pain, but after that, it never ended. After that the great Stock the Vast had taken it upon himself to 'put some spine in ta the boy!" All it had done was make Hiccup hate his own father, the only parent he had since his mother Valka had died because of a dragon raid (Hiccup still had some doubts about that night, and wondered what had happened to his mother; if she had been brought here by an unwilling dragon who had been trying to protect himself from the Queen, well he would not be shocked).

The Queen growled once more and Hiccup felt the back of his neck become hotter as the Queen's inner fire continued to build while the gasses in her body hissed as they mixed, adding to the flames building in her mouth, and he realised that the massive monster was building up to a climax that she could enjoy. The sheer sadism didn't surprise Hiccup one little bit; after seeing the way the Queen killed that Gronckle in the nest when he had gone out on that night flight, and how she had lifted her head to make it clear to the rest of her cowering servants she wouldn't tolerate another minuscule helping like that again, he had realised that that thing was no different from Snotlout, Astrid, or even his own father.

"It's time, bud," to his dragon.

This was the moment the pair of them had been waiting for. Hiccup held on tight to the saddle as his dragon turned around while using his wings as an airbrake. Seeing the massive sight of the Dragon Queen with her massive mouth open, revealing her dark, jagged teeth that were as long and thicker than tree trunks, her massive body blotting out all of the light with her massive wings beating the air as she chased after him and Toothless, but all he could see was the flames in the dragon's mouth, and they were growing brighter and brighter as she savoured the moment where she'd blast them both with fire…..

"NOW!" Hiccup cried, and Toothless fired his last plasma burst into the Queen's mouth. The massive dragon let out a cough that shook the air, but it was too late. The last plasma burst had already begun setting off a chain reaction in her body, and she immediately closed her mouth. But it was hopeless as she began to choke, and gagged on the fire in her body that was spreading out of control. The Queen tried to cough and she tried desperately to get the flames out of her body, but it didn't work as the flames in her body ignited the remaining gas pockets in her body that every dragon possessed as a kind of secondary supply in case the dragon burned through the primary supply. Now those gas pockets were burning up and destroying her from the inside and there was nothing she could do about it.

Hiccup watched with barely hidden satisfaction as the dragon began to see that it was hopeless. He had seen this before, only the dragon had been a tiny little Terrible Terror, and for a second Hiccup asked himself why the Terror hadn't looked like it was about to pop like the Queen, and he quickly realised that the Terror had only planned on igniting a small amount of its inner fuel instead of gathering the reserves like the Queen had, or it could have been that because of her size there was much more of the fuel gases in her body that was igniting.

Either way, he didn't care.

With a quick pull, Hiccup managed to turn Toothless around just as the last of the cloud cover was lifted, and he glanced over his shoulder. Now the dragon was exposed to the mediocre sunlight that only just managed to cut through the mists and the cloud cover over the island, he could see her ugly features more easily.

Her eyes had widened in horror and fear as she realised she was flying towards the ground, and the moment she came to that realisation she immediately tried to slow down. She opened her wings wide, but the damage inflicted by the earlier plasma bursts and the damage caused by the burst fired directly into her gaping maw had done their work though the last three hundred years she had spent just sitting in the dark depths of the nest being fed all the food stolen from the various islands in the archipelago had only made her fatter and added to the weight. The stress ripped holes in the membranes of her wings, and new holes were forming from ruptures and tears and they did nothing to stop her momentum.

Hiccup turned and pulled Toothless out of the path of the Dragon Queen, and they both flew as far as they could out of the massive and doomed behemoth's flight path as she headed on a one-way ticket to the ground, and they flew to a rocky hill and Hiccup guided the Night Fury onto it. There wasn't a lot of room on the top of the precipice, but they didn't plan to stay there for long. They just watched as the Queen roared one last time before she crashed into the ground.

In her last moments, the Dragon Queen gave one last roar of rage and fury. She had just lost everything. For the last three hundred years, she had ruled the nest with fear, forcing the generations of dragons that served her into venturing out of the nest, raiding the various Viking villages as far as they could travel, though she hadn't cared or given a thought of the time they would be gone as they left in great numbers to bring back the food that she needed while making sure they could never escape her thanks to the call she and other Alpha dragons were capable of exuding on their subjects. Other Alphas like the one she could sense a long way from here ruled their nests without fear, but she was not so weak; besides, if that Alpha cared then he would have stopped her long ago.

The Queen had never cared or given much of a thought to how many dragons she sent out and how many didn't return to her in order to feed her. In her mind, every dragon was expendable and she didn't care how many of her subjects lived or died, either by her jaws or by the humans and their stupid weapons. The Queen was not stupid; she knew that the humans trained to kill her subjects, but that didn't matter to her since she had lived already for centuries and she would live even longer, and as more and more generations of humans and dragons were replaced in order to serve her then she didn't care. In her mind, every human and dragon lived to serve her. The humans caught and nurtured the food, the dragons collected it and brought it to her, it was that simple. For three hundred years, the dragon nest had never been breached until today, but before her once greatest champion who had now been reduced to a domesticated animal by a human had brought the humans here, she hadn't been concerned. Nor had she been concerned that her subjects had escaped.

Once she had finished destroying the human fleet, she'd planned and calling the other dragons back in order to overwhelm the Vikings. They would have fallen easily while she would watch with sadistic pleasure. The humans had trained to fight dragons, she knew that; her subjects had brought tales back of the captured dragons the humans managed to subdue and keep in cages, but she did nothing for them because they were already dead and it would only be a short time before they were finally and effortlessly replaced, they were trained to fend off the raids. But they had never dealt with a full-on attack before. It would have been amusing to see how the great Vikings fared against such an attack and each and every human was dragged into the air, screaming and kicking as they were lifted up in the sharp talons and then dropped one by one into her mouth.

But now she was about to die.

She was about to die, and she cursed the sudden alliance between a human and a dragon, something that should never have occurred. She had created the world for the Vikings and the dragons to feed her while continuing a cycle of pain and death. But how had it happened? The humans were stupid. They had trained to fight and kill dragons for the last three hundred years and they were both too stupid and too blind to realise that no matter how many dragons they killed it wouldn't make any difference to her because she would keep on sending out the raids.

So how had it happened? How had her empire been destroyed in just a short time?

She knew that the human and the Night Fury were her killers, her executioners. She knew that the moment she had scented the human on the dragon's back in her nest that an abomination had happened, but she had not expected the human to return so soon. The Queen didn't feel any regrets, nor did she have any time to dwell on her life choices before she plunged into the ground. The last thing she saw was the flames that were out of control in her body creating a great and terrible explosion.

* * *

On the ground, the Hairy Hooligans immediately blocked out the debris of burnt scales and ashes as the mighty dragon monster exploded when it hit the ground as the pressure of the exploding gases within the thing's body creating an exploding pillar. Stoick and the others had to adjust their postures when the blasts came, or else they'd be knocked off their feet.

The dragon was so enormous that when it exploded, even with the Hairy Hooligans a fair distance away already since they had been virtually paralysed by hat they had just seen, there was a cloud of ashes that clung to the air and made the Vikings choke.

As he tried to keep the ashes out of his eyes, Stoick the Vast was trying to process what was happening as he tried to see through the clouds of ash and burning flesh to see what had become of the massive dragon….. And his son.

The old Viking was not surprised to see the massive dragon explode and the fire reached up high in the air as the explosions followed her body upwards into the air before the flames burnt themselves out until all that was left of the massive dragon were just a few piles of burnt scales, incinerated bones and a massive crater in the ground.

But there was no sign of Hiccup or that Night Fury of his.

Stoick looked around desperately for his son even as he tried to see through the clouds of ash, his mind racing as he tried to think of a way he could make up to his son. But he wasn't succeeding. What could he possibly offer? Hiccup was not interested in becoming the chief of Berk, he wasn't interested in anyone on the island except maybe Gothi and Gobber, and after the way he'd been treated there was no way Stoick could imagine any way anyone could persuade Hiccup to stay.

But Stoick had to try. He had to try to make up for all the years of misery that had been heaped on Hiccup's shoulders, he had to try to make up for disowning the boy and calling him a disgrace to Valka's memory, but then again he was hardly innocent of that either; he had put his own desire to wipe out the nest and slaughter as many dragons inside as he could off the face of the world, not for the benefit of his people and his island, but for the memory of a woman who would never have wanted such a thing.

But Stoick had ignored Valka's oddities in favour of getting revenge.

And his son had also paid the price.

In his mind's eye Stoick conjured up an image of a younger Hiccup, so small and fragile, so incapable of doing anything that a normal Viking child could do effortlessly as they trained up for adulthood, watching him as he left on one of the hunts for the nest, but what really got to him was how he had never looked back on his son. He had already judged the boy as being unworthy of his attention.

Worse, he had punched the boy when he was seven, and then later on if he was truly angry with the boy or he had just become frustrated over anything from dragons to the daily problems then he would just beat the boy in order to blow off some hot air. He had denounced the boy, humiliated him virtually every day of his life. When Gobber had persuaded him to put him into Dragon training he had known that Hiccup wouldn't take part, he just knew it but he had told the boy to try to do well because he wanted the boy to have the chance to do what he'd always wanted.

When he had returned from a stressful hunt for the nest, which had failed and had seen so many warriors die, Stoick had been too tired and stressed to do anything when he found out Hiccup hadn't even tried to do well in the training course. He hadn't even mustered the energy to be disappointed when Astrid had been given the chance to kill the Monstrous Nightmare.

But when Astrid had come to him to tell him she had followed Hiccup into the woods and found him with a Night Fury, and they were apparently…..friends, Stoick had not believed her but Astrid was not like the rest of the teens of the Hairy Hooligans. She wasn't the type to lie.

When he'd gone with her, he had seen it for himself and he had been furious. He had taken a group into the woods and ambushed the pair, and Stoick had been prepared to kill the dragon, the demon that had possessed his son somehow, but then Hiccup had told him desperately the dragon could get them to the nest before he had punched the boy in the eye and then disowned him.

And now this.

Hiccup had saved them all, so there was some hope, or at least he hoped there would be.

"HICCUP!" He yelled, spinning around and trying to look through the clouds of ash and mist that clung to the island, but he couldn't see any sign of his son or that Night Fury. "SON! WHERE ARE YOU?"

* * *

As he and Toothless stood unsteadily on the hill, Hiccup watched in satisfaction as the last explosions destroyed the Queen dragon and the flames died down. He looked at his friend. Toothless crooned, and he smiled back at the dragon; ever since he had first seen the nest on that night after his father had returned and had piled even more grief for him not doing well in the training course, Hiccup had noticed that Toothless had been edgy for a while.

Now he seemed to be back to his former self.

His smile faded as he looked over the view. The Dragon Queen had destroyed the entire fleet with a massive stream of fire, but as he'd flown over the fleet Hiccup had noticed that more than a few of the ships were more or less intact. The Hairy Hooligans would be able to return to Berk, though they'd actually have to do some work to repair some of the ships though Hiccup had no intention of helping them. He didn't know what would happen if he flew down there, but he wasn't going to try.

He looked wonderingly at Toothless and ran a hand over the dragon's head and wing. It was over, the Dragon War was over. He had been disowned, but he still had Toothless. Everywhere was open to him, he could go anywhere and do anything he wanted. Hiccup had always wanted to explore the world but he'd never imagined it would happen like this, but he didn't care about the circumstances.

Hiccup was still almost paralysed with wonder over what was going to happen now when he suddenly heard a thunderous voice that even from his height overlooking the island could be overheard.

"HICCUP!" Hiccup jumped, alarming Toothless for a second who crooned at him and looked at him worriedly. "SON! WHERE ARE YOU?"

It was Stoick.

Hiccup came back to the here and now, noting how the man had called him "son" but he felt nothing except annoyance towards his father. And pity. It was strange, but after spending the best part of his life being under the heel of his father, Hiccup felt nothing. He felt nothing, not even anger towards his father for being abusive and using his fists to pummel him to death. And now, here he was, the hero of the tribe, someone his father suddenly cared out because, ironically, he had killed the greatest dragon of all, and now he was suddenly worthy of Stoick's love.

But Stoick didn't seem to realise that it was too late. Hiccup wanted nothing to do with the Hairy Hooligans, he was done being the oddity, the freak.

He was a hero now, how about that? he thought to himself bitterly as he felt it was a switch. He had become so used to the harsh way he had been treated over the years by everyone in that miserable tribe. But, for a brief moment, he wondered to himself what would happen if he did fly down there. Even if he did fly down there with Toothless, the Hooligans would still not understand him, and they would still see him as not one of them. Hiccup wondered how long it would be if he had flown down there before they went back to how they had treated him in the past. A week? An hour? All he knew was he was not a member of the tribe.

Besides, as far as Hiccup was concerned with the whole mess, he wasn't a Hooligan anymore. His father had cut the cords and he was free, now the whole world was open to him. That was even better. Hiccup closed his eyes for a second, wondering just how far he was going to go before he re-opened them again. Now he could go wherever he liked, do whatever he liked, and he could actually live a life where he no longer felt as though he was a ghostly shadow, a prisoner in a world he could see but never be a part of. He had felt like that for a long time, and he no longer wanted to live that way. Toothless had opened up whole new possibilities, especially now he knew the truth of dragons, and what the war was all about.

"HICCUP!" Hiccup winced at the loud volume of his fathers' voice, but he wasn't bothered by the old Vikings yells. The man was not his father anymore. But then again Hiccup had never seen the man as his father for years since the night he had pushed Stoick too far.

For a moment, Hiccup entertained the thought of what would actually happen if he flew down there. What would happen? Would there be hugs and slaps on the back? How long would they last before the tribe went back to its old patterns of ignoring him? An hour? A day? He was still weak and frail, and besides that, he didn't think like one of them and he truly didn't want to. He liked his mind the way it was, he didn't want anyone to tell him how to think.

But what worried him the most was what could happen to Toothless. The Hairy Hooligans may have seen him fight that large Queen, but he was willing to bet they would eventually try to kill Toothless, and his father was not known for his mercy towards dragons.

As if sensing his worries, Toothless turned his head around and crooned at him, and Hiccup patted the dragon gently on his scaled head.

Truthfully, Hiccup had known for a while now he was not one of them, that he'd had no place on Berk. He had known his father would and could never be proud of him, and he had learnt to accept that. He had known that since the night Stoick had punched him for the first time, beginning a long cycle of pain and misery and humiliation.

It was harsh and painful, but it was true. Hiccup still remembered the humiliation he had felt when the rest of the tribe had convinced Stoick though the chief didn't really need much persuading to give the hereditary role of being the chief of the tribe which would have passed onto Hiccup to Snotlout, the only child of the current generation of Hooligans to share their bloodline. Hiccup remembered how upset he had been at first before he realised it was probably the best gift his ex-father had ever given him which didn't involve a knuckle-sandwich. He had never wanted to be chief, though he hadn't wanted to admit it to himself at the time. He had never wanted to organise those wasteful and pointless hunts for the nest, even when he had spent most of his life trying and putting all of his sweat and blood into those stupid inventions of his to make it easier for the tribe to fight off the dragons, and he had never really cared for long-winded speeches.

It wasn't him, it had never been him. None of the tribe had ever respected him or noticed him enough when he wasn't causing problems, that is, he corrected himself. In Hiccup's mind, the chief-hood was a wraith that hovered over him, crushing and smothering him at the same time. When he had first discovered he was going to be chief because the tribe took matters into their own hands and told Stoick it was a bad idea since he didn't live up to their ideals as Vikings, Hiccup had actually been excited before he learnt it was a horrible thing. And over the years, becoming chief was the last thing on his mind.

It didn't matter anymore. He had a dragon now, he could explore the world and see things that even traders and merchants had never even imagined in all the years they'd been travelling and selling their wares. But once more he wondered what would have happened if he decided to forgive his father, and Hiccup almost laughed to himself as he conjured a picture of himself teaching the Berkians how to train dragons and create bonds with their former enemies. The idea was ridiculous, just like the images of his father riding a dragon, and Astrid training a dragon.

No, it was best if he left. Leave now and never look back. He would leave the Hooligans to do how they wanted things done, and if they wanted Snotlout as chief, then they could; they were too one-dimensional enough to think about who was going to run the island, but he no longer cared. So, if Snotlout wanted Berk, he could have it, and even have it gift-wrapped. He no longer cared.

Toothless turned to him, crooning and Hiccup met the Night Fury's gaze, knowing that the dragon wanted to know what he wanted to do.

"C'mon bud, let's get out of here."

Getting gingerly on Toothless' back, being careful of the ledge they were on, and he guided the dragon into the air. But as they flew into the cloud and Stoick's calls died down, Hiccup let himself give in to the urge and he began to let the tears fall from his eyes.

* * *

Until next time.


	2. Chapter 2 Back to Berk

I am delighted so many people like my story. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Unfortunately, I've got some bad news for everyone.**

I received this message yesterday.

(remove the spaces to access the links)

ARTICLE 13 JUST GOT PASSED! #SAVE YOUR INTERNET

It was a 438 to 226 landslide vote. : / www . theverge 2018/9/12/17849868/eu-internet-copyright-reform-article-11-13-approved

They're voting on it one last time in JANUARY 2019, which gives us little time to change things around!

Youtubers Reaction to the end of Youtube? (End of Memes, Article 13,#SaveYourInternet)  
: / youtu . be /YBphJanne1A

If you're European, you'll be denied any and all access to fandom content on the internet. Here's why. Articles 13 in particular forces every internet platform to filter all the contents we upload online, ending once and for all the internet culture. Which means you won't be able to upload any type of copyrighted material. Memes, gifs, youtubers, livestreaming, fan art, FAN FICTION, blogging, linking, parodies, all of it will be affected. You won't also be able to share, enjoy or download other's contents, because the use of links will be completely restricted or the content removed.

But not everything is lost yet!  
Click here to find details to contact your MEP:

: /saveyourinternet .eu

Sign and share this petition:

: /www . change p/european-parliament-stop-the-censorship-machinery-save-the-internet

Also if you're outside of the EU, sign this petition:  
: /www . change p/axel-voss-save-the-internet-reject-article-13-and-11?recruiter=839558037&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

What you can do now to save our internet, is to share this information with all of your family members and friends, and to ask to your MEP (the members of the European Parliament from your country) to vote NO at the next round, to vote against articles 13.

Spread the news. Sign the petitions. Protest (Peacefully). Call your MEPs. Do what you can to help stop this from passing in January!

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

A few hours later, Hiccup landed Toothless back in the cove on Berk after quickly overflying the cove to see if there were any Vikings around - it was unlikely there would have been any, but it was good to check. Stoick had taken out the majority of the village warriors to the nest in Helheim's gate, leaving only a handful to protect the village and their island from their very human enemies like the Outcasts and the Berserkers, and they were more likely to be concentrating on defending the village and the harbour, and they wouldn't waste time loitering in the cove.

When they were sure there was no-one in the cove, Hiccup landed his dragon and immediately headed over to the small cave that was tucked away neatly behind a rocky outcropping and Toothless opened his mouth and mixed some of the flammable gases in his body to provide the young renegade Viking boy with the light he needed.

Hiccup had found the cave during his time training with Toothless and helping him fly again and he had used it as a ready-made warehouse for the flight harness and the prosthetic tail-fin as he'd developed the mechanism and made it more stable for Toothless to fly. Once he'd sorted out the issues, Hiccup had turned it over to housing the spare parts for the tail-fin, including the leather he used to mimic the natural skin of the Night Fury's only remaining organic tail-fin.

When the Vikings led by Stoick after being tipped off by "Miss Perfect" Astrid had stormed into the cove and took them both prisoner, Hiccup had been about to pack the spare parts he had spent some time fabricating whenever he had time to himself during the intervals between being with the dragon and being in the Kill Ring itself learning how to fight dragons, but he had been no-where near the caves' entrance when they'd arrived. When they had attacked they had been interested in subduing the Night Fury than going anywhere near the cave, and it was obvious that Astrid had found them on one of those days where he was no-where near it anyway, so everything inside was still safe. True, he had been worried the Vikings would have looked around the cove after Stoick had gotten the ships ready, but it looked like they hadn't and he was grateful for that.

Hiccup had spent the last few weeks stocking up on the parts and components for the mechanism he'd rigged up to help Toothless regain his ability to fly in preparation for when the pair of them actually left the island behind, but he had no idea how long they would last when he would have had access to a decent forge to make new ones. But he had estimated they would last for a good six months. That would have given him plenty of time to find a decent forge to make new ones, and maybe even find a way to make a stronger and robust tail-fin that would last longer.

When Hiccup had made the plans to leave Berk, he had wondered where he was going to go. All his life he had listened to Gobber who had once travelled far and wide, maybe as far as traders and merchants like Trader Johann himself and his imagination had been filled with stories and tales of people who were different from the Vikings.

There was the Roman Empire, of course, but everyone knew about them. Hiccup knew enough about the Romans to know they had a mighty empire that stretched across a large chunk of the world, and he knew that despite their lack of strength by Viking standards they were strong enough to conquer such a wide expanse of land and sea and maintain it with an iron fist.

But the chances were if he approached them they would more than likely try to either kill him or turn him into a gladiator. He had heard tales of Vikings who were captured in battle or were just in the wrong places at the wrong time being forced to fight to the death in arenas like the Kill Rings.

Hiccup shook his head, there would be plenty of time to think about where he was going to go next. Right now he had to gather everything out of this cave and get it to Toothless so he could work on the fin.

There was a wooden table piled with metal rods and leather sheets in the cave, and there were also a couple of journals that Hiccup had kept there which contained his research on dragons which was more comprehensive and detailed instead of that biased and stupid so-called Book of Dragons Fishlegs had read a dozen times already which only detailed what kind of things dragons could do in a fight rather than how they lived, how they could be approached, and how they could be trained.

Hiccup walked over to the table and mentally selected the tools he'd brought up and the components he'd need to fix the tail-fin after the leather had been damaged by the Queen's attack before he took them to Toothless. The Night Fury kept very still as he watched Hiccup slowly take off the damaged parts of the fin and check the rest of the mechanism. As he worked with practiced ease on the tail-fin, Hiccup mentally looked around the cove.

He would be sorry to leave this magical part of the island which, until the ambush, had probably only seen one or two Vikings visit before they left because there was very little here of interest. But he had known he would need to leave the cove at some point. When he was finished, he took Toothless on a quick test flight to check over the tail-fin and they were back an hour later, but the fin did not need to be worked on anymore to his relief.

After carefully packing the spare parts for the tail-fin and the harness into the saddlebags he'd gathered for their long trip, Hiccup's fingers touched the journal he knew contained every single one of his notes on dragons and dragon training. He picked it up and looked at it thoughtfully for a moment.

He had made the notes in the book to share his experiences with dragons, but now he was starting to wonder if he'd be better off if no-one ever found it. Hiccup shuddered at the thought of one of the Hairy Hooligans getting hold of the book (the chances were it would be destroyed once someone found out the basic details and consider it "blasphemous" for a Viking and a dragon becoming friendly), and the idea of someone like Astrid or Snotlout coming after him filled him with dread.

He had once liked Astrid but now he considered her to be nothing more than a snobby perfectionist with a scathing personality and a terrible temper that went off without her needing an excuse. Hiccup's eyes narrowed as he remembered how he had once fancied her when they had hit their teens, but she had never returned his affections. But when Snotlout had once cornered him after one of those stupid inventions had gotten out of control (not helped by the twins and their boss, which resulted in a few houses being virtually demolished) Hiccup had been upset when Astrid delivered a few punches, but it was understandable since the invention had damaged her own house. He had only found out about those little details later.

After that Hiccup had started taking a good long look at the other teens, and realised that there was no way he could fit in, and yet his natural stubbornness had made him just focus on killing dragons. He had decided to let the Vikings live the way they wanted, and if they broke their backs or tore a muscle, then so be it. Hiccup had destroyed the plans he had drawn up of the various pieces of machines designed to help the tribe and he had never looked back since.

He just could not believe he had wasted so much of his time and his energy trying to at least fit in with them. Snotlout had always hated him, and the other boy had always enjoyed using him as a punching bag while mocking him at the same time. In truth he was a younger version of his father, Spitelout, only the older Viking had a less large ego whereas Snotlout had an ego the size of an island.

The twins were borderline insane. They both loved seeing the village in flames, completely uncaring or unaware of what would happen in the aftermath, but as long as they had their fun they did not care. Hiccup had always believed the pair of them were thick, but it was not until he saw how Tuffnut acted in dragon training by going on about being "very much hurt" that he had more proof of how stupid they were.

But the 'nut twins made Hiccup pity the future of the Hooligan tribe. Okay, so perhaps he was being a little bit too harsh and the tribe would be okay in the long run, but Hiccup was not sure. As he'd grown up, there had been fewer and fewer teenagers who'd graduated from the dragon training Gobber taught at the Ring. It was either because when they graduated, many of them actually went out on the hunts for the nest Stoick organised and they were killed before they had children of their own, or they were too badly injured to actually have children themselves before they had the chance to truly fight against the dragons.

Many dragons were responsible for the deaths of many teenagers who had been just as good, or maybe a little bit better than even Astrid herself, over the years.

Thinking about Astrid made Hiccup think of her once more. Out of all the teens, Astrid was the type of girl people like Stoick wanted in the village. She was strong, she echoed all of the Viking's views without question. But despite all the mishaps, he had hoped to have at least Astrid's respect but after the way she had revealed Toothless' presence in the cove and what they were doing, Hiccup had come to realise that it wasn't worth it. But he could understand her point of view. Astrid was a Viking, born and raised and she hated dragons because she was expected to. She had trained for years to become the best, and she was probably above Snotlout in performance but he had never really bothered to find out.

The idea of her taking a dragon for her own, using this book or at least a bastardised version of dragon training, though knowing her it would probably be done in a brutal manner filled him with horror. It would be just like Astrid to be brutal in order to sort out the opposition and compete on a higher playing field. Hiccup remembered the near insane expression in Astrid's' face during dragon training, she saw the entire world as a giant Kill Ring where everybody else were opponents to fight against so she could win. She didn't care about who she hurt, but Hiccup had a feeling that in the future the girl would let her competitiveness spiral out of control and someone would be seriously maimed as a result, though he didn't know if it was going to be against a dragon or against another Viking. He didn't care either.

And then there was Fishlegs. Sure, he was as big as an adult and as strong. But he was no different from Hiccup himself; he was more intellectual and if the situation was different then Hiccup would not be alone in being seen as 'un-Viking-like' but it was different. Fishlegs and Hiccup had once been friends before the other boy ditched him when he began to grow and when the Ingermans' themselves made Fishlegs drop Hiccup and urged him to hang around with Snotlout and the others.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Hiccup took the two journals and slipped them into the saddlebags. The bags were fairly narrow to help Toothless fly at his top speeds, but Hiccup had made sure they were large enough to hold everything he'd need for long flights. After packing the parts into the bags, Hiccup went back to the cave and he opened a small crate he kept in a darkened corner. Inside were a few small wooden logs topped with an iron dome. A few years ago, Hiccup had gotten a journal from a country named China and it contained a recipe for something called gunpowder which was like Greek Fire only when it exploded it could demolish a building or blow up a boat. Hiccup had needed time to find the right chemicals and minerals needed to make the gunpowder; he had a few ideas of how to make it more powerful, but he had held off.

Hiccup had tested the gunpowder during a stormy night, guessing that the explosion would be masked by the sound of the thunder. He had found an old tree a good distance from the village when his father was on one of his never-ending hunts, which was virtually dead with a large chunk of the trunk open and exposed, and he had fitted the bomb inside the hole before lighting it. The explosive had practically levelled the tree and blew a large amount of the lower half of the tree to pieces.

The sheer power of the gunpowder had been awe-inspiring and Hiccup had made a dozen plans of how to use it against the dragons. He had planned to make some kind of cannon similar to the diagrams he had seen in the Chinese book, but he had decided against it; at the time, he didn't want the weapon to cause three times more damage to Berk though now he had been disowned by Stoick he no longer gave a damn if he destroyed half of the island or not.

But he had made a few samples of gunpowder and he had kept them in his little room in the forge. Not even Gobber knew he had it, and he had made sure the teens didn't know; if they had, then the twins would almost certainly have broken into the forge, found the crate, and played with the gunpowder without even realising how dangerous it was and what the consequences would have been. All those two nut jobs would have cared about was the destruction caused in the village. For that reason he had taken steps to keep it under wraps after just testing it the once, and he had made sure the crate it was in was as fireproof as possible and he had brought it here to the cave because he had planned to take it with him on his travels since you never knew if you might need it.

But as he held the cylinder of wood in his hands which was filled with the mixture he had a new idea…

* * *

Flying out to the village was easy; the Night Fury's black hide without his battle whistle helped him and his rider fly quietly over the village. From above Hiccup could see the lights twinkling like stars from the night sky. It was beautiful from the air, but Hiccup reflected it was a pity the people there were nasty and brainless.

Hiccup had overflown the village several times before at night. He had wanted to gain more experience with handling the prosthetic and his dragon, but he had also wanted to see how the prosthetic handled the longer flights. He had needed to modify and tinker with the mechanism, of course, but it was more satisfying working on a prosthetic tail-fin than those stupid inventions he had cooked up in the past which had been designed to help the ungrateful villagers who had seen them fail the first time around and just condemn them overall instead of considering what a more finely tuned version could do.

Hiccup pushed those thoughts aside as he guided Toothless close to the Kill Ring. The dragon became tense as he could smell the distant scents and heard the distant sounds inside the cages as the dragons within tried desperately to get comfortable though they probably knew by that point it was hopeless, and he visibly sniffed the air around the arena and his ears were cocked as he heard the distant sounds that Hiccup himself could only dimly hear from their current height.

While he could hear those sounds from above, Hiccup wondered what he was smelling and he momentarily wished he had his Night Fury friend's sense of smell, but he could imagine what Toothless was picking up; the residual stench of Zippleback gas which one head of the two-headed dragon spewed out before it was ignited by the second head, the smell of the refuse in the cages which would only add to the dragons' general discomfort and would not be cleaned up until the dragon had been killed and the cage was vacant until the next occupant. It was all mixed with the rotten offal the Vikings fed to the dragons.

Toothless growled as he realised quickly what was down there and what happened there. Hiccup patted him sympathetically on the head, knowing that if the situation had been different then the Night Fury himself could be in there, though that was unlikely; Night Furies were known in the Book of Dragons as unholy and nothing was known about them. It had taken four Vikings just to subdue Toothless, there was no way Gobber could have handled him during training, and it was unlikely any other Viking could have gone toe to talon with him in the Kill Ring.

Hiccup sighed and he took the Night Fury around the arena in another circle, but this time he was checking on the weaknesses of the dome itself. Whispering a few words to the dragon, Hiccup took a few of the gunpowder charges out of the saddlebag and tied them as tightly to the struts as possible, as an idea came to mind.

When he was finished, Hiccup landed on the ground gently. Toothless crooned as Hiccup led him into the Kill Ring arena, and the Night Fury looked around the dome for a second before he looked around the stone walls and floor that lined the arena, before he began to growl threateningly when he picked up the scents of the dragons locked behind the massive gates around the Ring.

"Easy, bud," Hiccup whispered, his eyes darting from side to side as he looked around for anyone from the village, but so far he could not see anyone. "Right," he hissed at the dragon, "I'm going to check on the rest of the dragons in the Kill Ring, but I need you to stay here; there's no room for you in the outer ring corridor, besides I'll need you to stay here and keep guard when I need to let the dragons out."

The Night Fury warbled worriedly as he understood what Hiccup was planning to do, but Hiccup quickly left the Night Fury and headed out of the arena before walking around the base of the dome until he came across a heavy wooden door with two lit torches that had been treated - ironically - with saliva from a Monstrous Nightmare which burned for hours. Hiccup took one of the torches and he opened the door and he very slowly walked down the roughly hewn stone steps down into the compound before he came to a narrow roughly hewn stone corridor which occasionally was separated by wooden doors reinforced by metal struts. Hiccup knew they led to storage areas to do with the Kill Ring.

As he walked through the corridor, it was not long before Hiccup came across a massive reinforced door which was fixed in the wall with heavy bolts which had a narrow dark gap reinforced with thick bars a Viking could look in with safety. Hiccup didn't need to look through the gap, he knew what was inside it. Next to the door was a smaller door which was used to tip offal into the cage.

Gently, he rapped his knuckles on the door. But there was no sound following the echo, the cage was empty.

Hiccup walked on and went around the roughly hewn corridor to the next door, knowing where he was going.

When people looked at the Kill Ring, you just basically pictured it as a massive dome made up of metal struts and spikes to keep the dragons in while there was an arena on a lower level with cages containing dragons lining the wall. That was the problem with Vikings, they always believed that what they saw and experienced was all that there was to know.

But the Kill Ring was a lot more extensive than the Hooligans except the elders, the chief, the blacksmith, the cleaners and the feeders knew. When the Hooligans and the rest of the tribes fighting the dragons realised they would need to teach the later generations how to fight dragons, they had realised that the place would need to be reinforced, have cages which were strong enough to contain the dragons which were captured but would need little in the way of maintenance since by that point the Vikings had found out that iron, no matter how strongly it was forged, could be destroyed over time. Hiccup could understand the point; they had spent all that time and energy wrestling and forcing the captured dragon into the cage and it was able to break out due to sloppy maintenance, so what was the point of having cages made of metal when metal could be melted? Many dragons like the Monstrous Nightmare and the Deadly Nadder could blast extremely hot flame, so iron cages were out.

It had taken a while - Hiccup didn't know precisely how long it had taken the Vikings of any tribe to have come up with the idea - but eventually, someone must have said: "what 'bout the caves, and rock; why don't we hollow 'em out and shove the dragons in them?" And they did.

Hiccup had never worked out how long it had taken the Vikings to build, there was nothing in the archives on Berk though it was next to impossible to find anything since the archives were such a blasphemous mess with next to nothing in order, so Hiccup had not really bothered to look. He had, however, found crude designs of the Kill Ring.

It was basically a massive ring, bigger than what the Vikings saw on a daily basis since it was built underground. Every cave that was found was hollowed out with massive hammers and chisels while they wrenched the rocks out with massive chains. Hiccup could picture the scene; Vikings as large and as strong as his former father, hammering the rock walls of the caves and caverns, putting up struts of iron to make sure the ceiling didn't collapse on the heads of the workers.

The caves made it perfect for Hooligans to work with the rock. They would hollow out the caves, shape the rock into rooms and corridors that were suitable for housing the dragons and keeping them locked up. The holding pens themselves were flameproof and they were reinforced with metal with spikes lining the rock walls to give the dragons an unpleasant living experience.

When you got underground, you were basically in a massive circle hacked into the rock with the dome overhead but hidden by rock several feet thick. Caves and caverns were enlarged and hollowed out, reinforced by metal frames with massive bolts shoved into gouged out holes cut into the rock. The pens were large enough to house each dragon while there were small vents covered with grilles that provided basic ventilation for the dragons held inside the ring while the only way to feed and water the dragons came from chutes built into the doors and the walls.

The Vikings knew what they were doing, but it was pity that only a few Hooligans actually knew what was in the compound though Hiccup had a feeling it was assumed everyone knew what was in there, he doubted it; if the twins and Snotlout knew what was in the compound, then they would probably mess around down here and he'd be blamed for it, so he was quite happy it had never happened.

As the village blacksmith, Gobber was personally responsible for the upkeep of the Kill Ring's metal parts - the doors, the struts, the spikes, and the fittings in the pens that kept the dragons locked up, and as the blacksmith apprentice Hiccup himself had often found himself in the compound to help though truthfully he was not really necessary; Gobber always had others help him remove the doors because it required a lot of brute strength to remove the metal doors when they were damaged. The decision Gobber had made to take him to the Kill Ring to check over the holding pens had been, well, not very well received. Many of the Vikings on the council (his ex-father for one) believed that if he was down in the compound he would mess up and let the dragons out.

Ha! As if he was stupid enough to do something like that. Hiccup was many things and at the time he may have wanted to kill dragons, but he had wanted it to be on his own terms. Besides, how could he get inside one of the holding cells when it was likely the other Vikings would stop him? Why would he try to enter one and get himself killed?

Hiccup had made sure never to play games when he was in the Kill Ring. He wasn't willing to commit suicide anywhere near here as he grew up.

Hiccup was not suicidal enough to make such a stupid mistake.

Thinking about those spikes made Hiccup pause and sigh regrettably; he remembered how he had once believed in the dogma that all dragons were evil, emotionless beasts that deserved to be slaughtered and punished for three centuries of war. A few months ago, he would never have thought twice about shoving a dragon into one of those holding cages and letting them struggle to get comfortable without getting a terrible injury in turn.

But now he knew the truth, it made him physically sick just like it sickened him he was responsible for robbing Toothless of independent flight.

Sure, he knew if he hadn't then he would never have discovered the truth about dragons. He would still be in the shadow of his ex-father. He would still be in the middle of dragon war while trying, unsuccessfully, to find a way of killing a dragon. He would still have that stupid, brainless mindset every Viking had. He would still be trying to kill himself trying to earn respect from Stoick, from the villagers, but more importantly, respect for himself.

Hiccup sighed and carried on, and he came upon a massive metal door, and he took a deep breath as he approached it. This particular pen was more reinforced that some of the others. This pen was the one used to house dragons like the Monstrous Nightmares, but he knew that in the past it had held dragons like Timberjacks, the occasional Skrill, and some other really big and powerful dragons. He didn't touch the door to see if there was a dragon inside, he could hear the rough breathing from the Nightmare inside. He winced when he heard a pained growl coming from inside, and he guessed the dragon had accidentally lumbered into one of the spikes.

"Don't worry," he said to himself before he went on his way, "I'll set you free."

When Hiccup began to head back to Toothless, he had to duck out of sight when he heard the sound of a Viking talking to his friend in the distance but they were talking too quietly for him to hear them. Fortunately, they went on their way and they were soon out of sight. After waiting for a couple of minutes, Hiccup went back out and went back down into the arena. The moment the Night Fury saw him he bounded over, but Hiccup managed to stop him from knocking him over. "Not now, bud," Hiccup hissed quickly. "We have to free the dragons in the Kill Ring, and I've got an idea. We're going to set fire to the village itself. It will distract the Hooligans and give us the chance to blow up the dome covering the arena."

The dragon cocked his head. He understood what his rider was getting at, but he was worried they might get caught.

Hiccup saw his dragon's reaction and instantly calmed him down. "It's okay," he said as reassuringly as he could. "I have a plan."

* * *

Tethered to Toothless as the dragon's talons clung to the dome of the Kill Ring, Hiccup waited for big bangs in the village to occur. He had planted bombs all over the village, and on the dome of the Kill Ring. As time passed slowly, Hiccup urged the Night Fury towards the fuses he had left on the dome, and the dragon gently slid the string into his mouth and mixed the chemicals and gases to create the mix to light the fuses.

Once the dragon was finished, Hiccup had him quickly jump down and had the dragon race back down the ramp into the arena. The dragon had barely gone by the time the first of the bombs in the village exploded. Despite the distance, the bang was so loud Hiccup winced, and he smiled when he heard the sound of angry and panicky yells from the village-he could not make out the words, but he didn't care. He also didn't have the time to just loiter, so he rushed back down into the arena.

"Cover me, bud," he told the waiting Toothless as he began to open one of the cages.

Toothless growled when he figured out what his rider was about to do, but he had been listening to his human friend explain the plan, and the dragon agreed with Hiccup the cages had to be opened and the dragons freed. But that did not mean the Night Fury had to like any of this since he could tell that the dragons in this arena were powerful and dangerous enough to roast Hiccup alive.

The Night Fury prepared to defend himself and his rider; he flared his wings and ensured his teeth were on display while he prepared the chemicals and the gases in his body to fire. He planned to make sure the dragons who saw him knew that he would fight if necessary.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was carefully unlocking the doors to the pens and throwing off the locking bars before opening them up and letting the dragons who could barely believe their luck leave their cages.

Hiccup quickly scuttled back over to Toothless. He hadn't bothered trying to tame the dragons during the training sessions. If he had taken what he had found out from his time from Toothless, it would have drawn too much attention to himself though how was he supposed to know Astrid would notice his frequent absences and actually bother to find out what he was doing in the woods?

Making sure he had Toothless near him, Hiccup wondered when the bombs exploded overhead but meanwhile, he had to keep his eyes on the dragons in the arena. He knew they would remember him, and he was right. Their reactions were surprised when they saw that he was with a dragon, a Night Fury, but while the Terrible Terror, the Zppleback, the Gronckle, and the Nadder were nervous being in Toothless' presence because while they knew they could put up a good fight they knew it would not be easy to harm the Night Fury.

But the Monstrous Nightmare was too angry to care.

The dragon had been locked up in the holding pen for a month with the rest of his fellows. It had been trapped inside its cage, unable to sleep properly without be impaled by one of those dreadful spikes in the cage the Vikings believed stoked the fire of hatred the dragons felt for the Vikings though in truth the dragons, if the Queen had never existed, would not have given them a second thought but would have lashed out if the Vikings with their mentally of "kill first, ask questions later."

The Monstrous Nightmare's snout could still smell the disgusting stench of its own excrement, and it hadn't seen the sky in so long it had virtually forgotten what it looked like, particularly at night. The moment the dragon saw the boy and the Night Fury, he almost did not believe his own senses and he, like his fellow dragons were frozen in indecision.

Hiccup saw the indecision in the body language of the dragons and he felt relief though he doubted it would truly last.

The bombs finally went off with a rumble and the bright lights as the gunpowder exploded and pieces of the Kill Ring's dome which had stood above the area for decades suddenly rumble hesitantly as though the parts of it that had been demolished could not believe they had been loosened but then the supports and the struts had to obey the laws of gravity, and large chunks of the dome collapsed into the arena in a cloud of dust.

Understandably the dragons were startled, and they either shrieked or roared in surprise at the sounds of the explosions, and they jumped back in anger and panic as the rubble crashed to the rocky ground of the arena itself.

Jumping forwards, Hiccup managed to avoid the rubble and held up his hands, "No, it's okay," he cried out, wondering how long it be before those in the village arrived; he didn't know what the current state of the village was after the bombs had exploded, but with the racket this lot were making and the sound of the dragons roaring, it would not be long before the Vikings arrived and that the last thing they needed. "It's okay. You're free!"

The dragons were still panicky but it was not long before the dust cloud cleared up and they saw that the struts and the wide bars that had once covered over the arena had been demolished and now resembled a giant cracked egg.

Hiccup jumped onto Toothless' back and he guided the dragon into the air when he realised the dragons in the Ring were clearly seeing this miracle but they were too hesitant to leave because they probably thought it too good to be true, so he decided to give them incentive by leaping onto his dragon and flying the Night Fury out of the Ring to show them what they could do now.

Toothless had already cleared what was left of the still-standing dome of the Kill Ring by the time the villagers arrived; from the sky, Hiccup could see that the explosions had caused a lot of chaos, and the Vikings who were unprepared by the devastation were out of their depth and unsure of what to do. Hiccup carefully twisted the Night Fury around so then the Hooligans didn't see them. While he didn't care anymore if the Vikings down below saw him as a traitor, he didn't want them to see him either.

Hiccup could hear the villagers bellow angrily and he even caught talk of catapults or bolas to bring down the dragons again, but he knew it was hopeless. By the time they got their acts together and actually got their hands on weapons that could bring down a dragon, it would be too late.

"And now they're wondering why the dragons haven't snagged any food," Hiccup whispered to himself as Toothless gained a bit more altitude and flew away. In the night sky, he couldn't see any sign of the other dragons, and they weren't flying anywhere near Hiccup or Toothless, and he was relieved by that after seeing the belligerent attitude of the Monstrous Nightmare.

Still, he looked around and hoped to catch sight of the Nightmare's distinctive form, but it wasn't anywhere near him. Hiccup hoped that the dragons he had just freed had better lives than they had led as slaves to that Queen.

Looking back, Hiccup could still see the lights of Berk. For a long sad moment, Hiccup wondered if he would ever see those beautiful lights again. He would miss some of the island of course even if he would never miss the tribe itself. He would miss the forge with the little back room Gobber had given to him so he could work on his own ideas and where he could get a breath of fresh air from his ex-father and the teenagers. He would miss the cove and the woods more because it was truly beautiful, and in the time he had still been a part of the tribal community he had come to know the forest very well.

He would miss it, the island, not the tribe.

With a weary sigh, Hiccup turned his neck around so he was facing forwards again and he guided Toothless on, and he reflected on what he had just done. He had no idea when the rest of the tribe returned to the island and discovered what he'd just done, but even if they made the leap and realised he was behind it there would be nothing they could do. He wasn't worried about the dragons either, but he would keep an eye on the dragons to make sure they didn't do anything stupid, but Hiccup doubted they'd go that far.

But he had done it. He had freed the dragons easily, and now the dragons he had met during the training sessions were now free. Hiccup knew the Hairy Hooligans well enough to know they would definitely rebuild the dome with the material they had left, and it wouldn't take too long for them either in preparation for the next attack. Hiccup doubted the dragons would attack now the Queen was over since she had been the primary force that had driven the war in the first place. Sure, one or two dragons may seek out revenge against the Vikings, but Hiccup wasn't sure about that; he didn't know enough about the true nature of dragons, and just meeting a few Terrible Terrors and a Night Fury was not enough. He would need to spend more time with them to get an idea of what really lurked behind the total garbage of what the Vikings in the archipelago said and thought about dragons, but he had plenty of time to find out for himself.

Thinking about the way he'd just levelled the dome of Berk's Kill Ring and about the Vikings' attitude toward dragons reminded him of the other Kill Rings dotted about the various islands.

Hiccup shook his head. He was too tired to think of a game plan now, but his current attitude was now the war was over, the prisoners should be released though he knew the other Vikings would not agree with him.

Still, why should he care about them now? He'd had it thrown into his face all his life he was not one of them, so now he was disowned and his ex-father had cast him out what the rest of the archipelago and his former tribe thought about him was meaningless to him, and even if the other tribes learnt about his status as a dragon rider, what of it?

Hiccup sighed. He had just been disowned, he had taken the first steps to stopping the cruelty to dragons which had lasted for so long, but he was too tired and he needed time to rest. He needed to prepare for his future, but if he really wanted to see the world he would need to sort out the mess caused by the Dragon War. It would be a hard job, but he was sure he could do it.

The biggest problem he had on his mind was actually getting through the different territories and actually get to the Kill Rings themselves to do it. Hiccup guessed it would be a long time before he could leave the archipelago, but was sure he could handle it.

Hiccup pushed those thoughts to the side and concentrated on guiding the Night Fury through the sky, but he leaned forward and whispered, "We're going to free the dragons, bud," he said clearly to the dragon as he spoke about his long-term plans. "We're going to free the dragons, and we're then going to get out of here."

The Night Fury warbled as they sped off into the night sky. Both of them knew the job they had was going to be long and difficult, but as Hiccup settled on the dragons' back, he had a sudden inspiration and he gently urged the dragon on.

* * *

Please tell me what you think, and I'm sorry about having to post the Article 13 message.


	3. Chapter 3 Letters

Unfortunately, I don't own HTTYD. I do own this story, and I'm just having fun with the continuity.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

When Stoick the Vast returned to Berk he was appalled by the state of the village.

It was bad enough three out of fifty of the ships he had taken with him to destroy the nest had been incinerated by that massive monstrous dragon that had been living inside the nest, though the surviving three had been severely damaged, requiring the Hooligans to salvage what they could use to repair the ships to get them home while a number of hastily built rafts had to be built to tow back home, but Stoick had been looking forwards to a rest, but most of all he had wanted to find out if Hiccup was on Berk.

Hiccup…. thinking about the same son he'd disowned only served to make the chief depressed, especially after seeing what his son had done with that giant dragon, and it had made Stoick think. It wasn't easy for a Viking to think, it didn't come naturally to a race of people that believed brute force and almost complete ignorance was the key to winning any war. But then again Hiccup had never been like him or the rest of the tribe. That was one of the reasons why Stoick had so many problems with the boy as he'd grown up.

Hiccup was just like Valka.

They had both been thin, but where Valka had some degree of strength she put all of her strength into her mind, and she always asked questions about the war and it's rightness. At the time Stoick had put up with it and it had made him love the woman even more.

But Hiccup….. Hiccup was intelligent, probably more intelligent than anyone else on Berk which made up for his lack of physical strength. Thanks to working in the forge, Hiccup was good at working with his hands and he was skilled; it annoyed Stoick a little when he had taken note of the harness and the prosthetic tail-fin that wretched beast his son had shot down, though it was Gobber who noticed it, and he had commented on the boy's ingenuity and his craftsmanship.

At the time Stoick had ignored it, he'd been focused on destroying the nest and he had planned to thank the Night Fury by beheading it and giving it to his former son before booting him off of Berk once and for all. But now..

Stoick had no idea why he had never gotten along with his only son, but he wanted to try to make amends. He needed to. But unfortunately, Gobber had made him think Why should Hiccup be on Berk? He had a dragon now, he could go anywhere and do anything he wanted without being tied down to Berk.

Stoick tried to imagine what Hiccup was doing now, but he couldn't even guess. Despite knowing his son all of his life, Stoick had never gotten along with him. He was far from being the perfect father. Who was the perfect parent? Stoick didn't know anyone on Berk who was; he had known Ingrid and Hagface Hofferson for years, and he knew Hagface had wanted a son instead of a daughter. Oh, Hagface loved his daughter and he encouraged her to train well in order to clear up the shame the Hofferson family had felt since "Fearless" Finn Hofferson's botch up with that dragon, the Flightmare had frozen in fear against the dragon.

That had never made sense to anyone since Finn had been a helluva of dragon killer. Stoick had trusted and liked the man for his single-minded attitude, but he had been disappointed when Finn had just…frozen. He had been so disappointed the Hoffersons had been shamed for a decade. He knew that Astrid had planned to somehow remove the shame, and she had trained hard for that honour for years but now it seemed it wasn't necessary.

Everything was new now.

The dragon war was long since over, but everything was just so new to Stoick that he found it hard to process what had happened. All he wanted to do was get back to Berk, find his son and try to make up for all of the years of pain he'd heaped onto the boy's shoulders. He needed to make up for all of the emotional abuse he had forced on Hiccup as well as the physical abuse. He had dismissed all of the ideas Hiccup had had for improving the dragon defences and for improving the quality of life in the village. He had seen the automated defence plans Hiccup had drawn up, but he had always ignored them, considering them to be rubbish or something like that. In truth, he had never paid that much attention beyond actually seeing them.

But ever since Valka had died, Hiccup and he had grown apart. It had gotten to the point where Stoick simply could not look at his frail and fragile son who was completely incapable of lifting a weapon from an axe to a sword, and it had reached the point where he had to lock his own son inside Haddock Hall. It had reached the point where he would continually scowl at the boy whenever he laid eyes on him. Many of the villagers had understood and since Stoick had never been able to hide his feelings from them, they had sympathised. His son's scrawny form and his bizarre habits had earned him that shameful moniker "Hiccup the Useless," a title that had made Stoick cringe at first before he had begun to agree with it.

But it was Hiccup's resemblance to Valka - the same hair colour, the same eyes… that had made him angry. It was hard to love a boy whose mother was gone, but not once did the boy have anything in common with him.

For years Stoick had looked for any sign that his son was like him in some manner, but no matter how hard he looked, it appeared he was wasting his time. He sometimes believed the gods themselves were punishing him for failing to save Valka from that gigantic dragon by making sure he had a pathetic offspring and making the boy resemble his mother.

But Stoick had gone further than that when one of Hiccup's inventions (he'd forgotten which one) had caused so much damage, he had lashed out in anger.

When Gobber had told him to put the boy into dragon training, Stoick had resisted. Part of him, the part that wanted to uphold the desires of Valka to look after the boy, wanted to keep him out to keep him safe. He knew Hiccup was not Viking material. Oh, he may have had the spirit and the determination of one, but he was not a Viking. But Gobber had persisted, and he had made a good point. Stoick the Vast may have been a Viking chief who was physically strong and mighty, he may have used anything from swords to skillets out of his own kitchen to kill any dragon stupid enough to cross his path, but he was not immortal. Only the gods and sorcerers were immortal, and he knew it. One day he would die and he knew it.

One of Stoick's worst nightmares was he would die during a dragon raid, which was not unusual, but he would leave his friends behind and he would also not see his son again. Even worse, he would have failed to uphold the vow he had made to avenge his wife's death.

But he had agreed to Gobber's suggestion because maybe Hiccup could have a gift with the dragons. Instead, he had ended up disappointed. Hiccup had refused to do anything but the barest minimum, and he had been openly disappointed. But Hiccup had not cared. But then again, he hadn't really cared ever since the first time Stoick had hit him that first time. It was as though each impact which was actually designed to make Hiccup wake up and be like them had actually just spilt out his desire to help the village until he no longer cared about anyone on Berk. When Stoick had seen that Night Fury and his son…. he had hit the roof and he had disowned his only child. During the battle with the massive dragon, they had not spoken. He hadn't had the chance since Hiccup had managed to quickly free his Night Fury with the aid of that Nadder, one of the two caught in the last raid.

Hiccup had flown to the nest on another dragon, one of the Nadders that had been caught during the raid which had supplied the Kill Ring with the dragons needed to train the latest generation of Hooligans, and he had flown instantly to the ship where the Night Fury was chained to, and together they'd managed to set the unholy beast free before Hiccup jumped onto the Night Fury's back and they had battled against the massive dragon.

After that…. Stoick had called for what seemed like hours before Gobber had told him to stop, to face reality.

Hiccup was not going to come to him.

In fact, he was probably miles away after his Night Fury fired that bolt into the massive dragon's mouth, but that didn't mean Stoick wasn't positive they could find the boy. It was the only thing that was keeping him going, and what had helped to drive him to help repair the ships and return home to Berk.

But the moment he laid eyes on his island, those thoughts vanished in a puff of smoke.

The village was a shambles. The few Vikings who were still left to guard and protect the village, the elderly and the children, arrived at the dock to watch the remaining ships sent out to destroy the nest once and for all. They were openly gawking at the state of the ships and at the sight of the laden rafts. Stoick could not blame them; the ships had been patched together from whatever they could scavenge, but he ignored them in favour of looking around the village.

Many of the houses were in ruins, some of them only still standing because they only had two walls to prop them up, exposing the interiors to the elements. Stoick's eyes scanned the village thanks to long practice gained from fighting in the war against the dragons, and he could see that dozens of the houses were only just still standing, but one or two of them had been demolished, but the majority of them only had their roofs destroyed. At first, Stoick naturally assumed the damage was caused by vengeful dragons, seeking to get revenge for their treatment, but why was the village still standing? Why were the villagers allowed to live? The part of his mind, the one which held onto the belief the dragons were evil demons, could not work it out.

"What in Thor's name happened?" Stoick heard the question repeated behind him in surprise along with other questions about whether or not their families were alright, but the questions shook Stoick out of his stupor.

"Was it dragons?"

One of the villagers sighed. "It wasn't the dragons. One moment, we were minding our own business and doin' what we normally do at night, when suddenly we heard explosions."

"My house was destroyed!" someone yelled, but the villager and Stoick ignored it. "We rushed out of the Hall, expectin' dragons burning and destroying the village, but all we heard and saw were explodin' houses. There wasn't a single dragon in the sky, and we tried to find out what was goin' on, but then we heard more explosions at the Kill Ring."

The villager looked his chief straight in the eye. "You should see it, Stoick. The dome is gone, and the dragons are gone from their pens as well."

* * *

While Stoick and the other Vikings who'd gone out to destroy the nest were busy, Gobber had hobbled towards one of the wrecked houses and he looked at it with an expert eye. He had known the moment he had seen the damage it was not dragons. It was comparable, but not quite right. The dragons had never really bothered with destroying houses in the past unless they caught the scent of food inside them, but when they had been focused on destroying a house or one of the buildings in a village, they would level it until it resembled the logs used by the cooks in the Hall for cooking the dinner. A light sniff against the wood also added to the evidence it was not the dragons.

But there was a familiar tang in the charred wood. Gobber frowned as he took another sniff as he tried to identify the smell, struggling to make his mind look back into his past when he was travelling the world to see the sights and gain more knowledge of what was out there and to add to his collection of bizarre stories, but the passage of time had separated those memories so he was completely unable to identify it, but it was there.

The blacksmith wandered over to another house and saw the exact same thing, only the smell was slightly stronger. Gobber cursed his memory for refusing to give him the answer. He was about to give up when he saw something on the ground, and with a frown he bent down and picked it up while he pushed his prosthetic leg into the ground to firmly anchor him into place so he wouldn't lose his balance, and he came away with what looked like the burnt remnants of piece of log that looked as hollow as a mug.

Gobber sniffed the log, and he wrinkled his nose. The smell coming from it was stronger than the stench coming off of the houses. Gobber turned it over and around in his hands, seeing that the bark had been completely removed from it, but he couldn't help but think something about this was familiar. It wasn't until he dipped a finger into the wooden cup and came away with a few grains. Yes! His memory was starting to come back to him, and as he rubbed the grains between his fingers, it came to him and he turned his head to yell over his shoulder. "Stoick! You'd better get over here!"

The old blacksmith stood up and turned around even as Stoick and the rest of the village came over to see what he'd found. The chief's brow was creased into a frown as he looked at the object in his old friend's hand.

"What is it?"

Gobber held up the remains of the log, though he probably thought it was more of a wooden cylinder that had probably been topped off. "Gunpowder. There's no doubt in my mind that someone planted more 'o these around the village to blow 'em up," he announced.

Stoick's muscles tensed in anger and he looked as though he wanted nothing more than to take the log from Gobber's hands and crush it in his grip, but the old chief looked confused. "Gunpowder?" he repeated. "What's gunpowder?"

"Its a black powder made by the Chinese," Gobber explained, but he quickly went on when he saw the confusion on his friend's face, not to mention everybody else. "They're a people a long way from here. I met some of 'em on ma travels. They're not like us, but they're close to the Roman's level of technology, and they've created something similar to Greek Fire." Stoick and the others pulled themselves up at the mention of the weapon that was used with great effect elsewhere in the world. Gobber nodded in satisfaction at their reactions. "Only their version is only dangerous when ya light it, and it explodes."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut butted their helmets at the thought of an explosion. "Awesome!"

Gobber ignored them. "I brought a book back with me which contained the recipe, but I could never get the hang of their written language, so I was never able to remake it. But I kept the book. It's on a shelf in my forge."

"Does anyone know how to make it?" Stoick asked.

"I dunno," Gobber replied honestly. "I doubt it," he added, "I thought we could mix it up and use the gunpowder against the dragons, but I was never able to read their language. It's doubtful anyone else here could."

"Hmm," Stoick looked thoughtful, but he sighed and he left the docks and walked through the village. Gobber could see that his old friend was looking around the village, mentally estimating how long it would take for each house to be repaired. But when they arrived at the Kill Ring, even Gobber stopped in astonishment.

The dome had been demolished, and the pieces of it that had survived were lying in heaps at the bottom of the arena until it resembled the cracked fragments of the top of a giant boiled egg. But that wasn't the worst of it; all of the gates were opened and the dragons that had been imprisoned in the Ring recently were gone. As he looked down at the ruins of the dome, Gobber began to get a good idea of what had happened. Those wrecked houses were a diversion to allow someone to free the dragons, and considering what he had seen on that island with the nest he had a good idea who had done it.

Meanwhile, Stoick was looking into the arena with wide, appalled eyes. He turned to the villager who'd remained on Berk. "What happened?" he demanded.

"We heard the explosions coming from the Kill Ring, but when we got 'ere, we found it like this. We also found the dragons were gone," the villager replied briefly but there wasn't anything else he could say. "We saw some of the dragons flee the Ring, but we didn't have the time to catch or kill them again."

Gobber saw his friend's angry expression but he didn't see what Stoick could do, and if he were honest he didn't want to. He turned and hobbled towards the entrance to the compound, hoping to get away from Stoick and the others so he could focus on his own thoughts, and he walked down the steps carefully and he began to check for any sign of damage. But as he walked along the Ring he couldn't see any sign of any. The inspection also gave him time to think. Gobber had a good idea who had done this, but if it was Hiccup how had he found out how to make gunpowder? Hiccup was smart, Gobber knew that, but even Hiccup would have problems understanding Chinese since the characters had no translation. For any normal Viking, the Chinese characters were like scribbles.

When Gobber went around the compound, he couldn't see any sign of damage to any fitting or any of the gates to the pens, but he had expected that - the only places to do serious damage would have been the dome and the gates inside the arena. Finally, he gave up and decided to return to the open and he found Stoick in the arena itself, directing operations. Gobber didn't know what he planned to do, but he questioned the chief's judgement if he was planning on focusing on repairing the dome; the Kill Ring could wait, the village couldn't. It was that simple.

The old blacksmith walked over to the chief and oversaw some of the villagers clearing away the debris. Gobber turned to Stoick. "I hope you're not planning on focusing on the Kill Ring," he said.

He wasn't afraid of Stoick's explosive temper. He knew his friend well enough to know what to say, and how to approach the other man. But Gobber knew Stoick well enough to know that the chief was once more focusing on the dragons and not the greater good of the tribe.

"We're not," Stoick's reply surprised Gobber, and the chief turned to him, his expression affronted at the thought he was just focusing on the dragons and not on the village, though truthfully Gobber would not be surprised if that was the case. "We're gonna be rebuilding the village, Gobber. But we also need to be prepared for the dragons. Yeah…. Hiccup….," Stoick looked down at his feet in shame at the mention of his son, but he pulled himself together quickly, "Hiccup may have ended the war, but the dragons are still out there. We must be prepared for them if they attack."

Gobber sighed under his breath. He had been brought up same as Stoick and the rest of the villagers, and the rest of the tribes, that the dragons were evil monsters, but in the last few days that belief had been shaken to its foundations by everything he had seen. According to their teachings, Hiccup couldn't have tamed a dragon, never mind actually ridden one, yet he had. According to their teachings, the Night Fury should have killed the young boy, not let him get close enough to make that prosthetic tail-fin, never mind attach it to the dragon's tail.

But Stoick seemed to think the war was still going on. No, Gobber could see it in his friend's eyes that he was merely making sure that the village was protected, but he was worried that Stoick would devote more resources to rebuilding the Kill Ring instead of the village. Gobber only hoped that didn't happen; it would make Stoick unpopular with the tribe, and the last thing they needed was an uprising.

Suddenly Gobber just wanted to get out of the arena. He was bored and tired of this whole mess, now he just wanted to get some rest. He turned around and walked off, leaving Stoick to his soul-searching. He hobbled out of the arena and down towards the village. He knew that he'd have to sort through the damage to the village, but the place had been in this state for a while already, one more night wouldn't make any difference. But before he got back to his house, he stopped by the forge and looked for the bookshelf he knew the Chinese book containing the recipe to the gunpowder was.

It was there.

Somehow that didn't surprise him; Hiccup always brought any books he'd borrowed out of the forge back to the shelf. Gobber walked over to the door to the little room he'd prepared for his apprentice. He sighed in relief when he saw the drawings of numerous machines Hiccup had planned to build or had built, only for them to be ruined or destroyed whenever they went wrong. Gobber was relieved to see them still there. He'd expected Hiccup to have removed them and take them with him when he'd left, not that he could blame the lad.

Gobber sighed as he walked over to one of the drawings and he picked it up delicately as though it were a gift from the gods. These drawings were all he had left of Hiccup, the closest thing he'd ever had to having a child of his own, and he would keep them for the rest of his life.

With a sorrowful sigh, Gobber walked out of the forge, once more ignoring the pile of weapons and whatever was in the usual pile, and he walked to his house. He didn't live too far from the forge, and he was not surprised to see that his apprentice had not destroyed the house though he hadn't seemed to have held back against the rest of the villagers. For a moment, the blacksmith asked himself if Hiccup's own former house had been left intact. Gobber would not be surprised in the least if Hiccup had damaged the old house. He knew how much his former apprentice (Gods, thinking that hurt a great deal) hated his family home, it had been more of a prison to Hiccup because Stoick had made it his life's mission to keep him locked up inside the house whenever he was out, but he sighed in the end. He was too tired to care, and as he pushed open the door and headed towards his bed for a long rest, he was surprised when he found something on the bed.

It was a folded piece of paper with his name written on it and he picked it up and held it up to the light streaming into the room so he could read it, and he unfolded it and took out another piece of paper inside with Stoick's name on it, but he put that aside for the time being so he could read his own letter. His eyes widened as he recognised Hiccup's scratchy writing.

" _Hello, Gobber._

 _I don't know how long it would have taken for you to get back from the Dragon nest after that battle with the Queen, but by now you've returned and found Berk in the mess it is._

 _Yeah, I have freed the dragons in the Kill Ring. I used the gunpowder in the book you had at the forge, and no I am not going to leave any clues as to how I was able to find out how to make it. You can tell that to Stoick and the others. I had to return to the island briefly to make repairs to my dragon's tail-fin, and the to gather up whatever I thought I could use on my travels. I used the opportunity to free the dragons in the Kill Ring - they don't deserve to be locked up anymore, Gobber._

 _The war is over, so there's no reason to keep them locked up in those pens in the Kill Ring anymore._

 _I know you would probably disagree with me, but I don't think the dragons are going to care much more about the Vikings, nor their Queen is dead. I discovered the Queen by chance in the nest not long before Astrid told Stoick about Toothless (my Night Fury - yeah, I was telling the truth when I shot him down),"_ Gobber frowned as he remembered that night of the last recent dragon raid Berk suffered before he'd taken the teenagers to be trained in the Kill Ring. Like everyone else, he had not believed Hiccup when he'd claimed he'd shot down a Night Fury. Who would have done? The boy's record had spoken out against him, all those inventions he'd made had caused more harm than good, though Gobber had not done much to stop the boy from making them.

He had seen that the devices had potential, but unfortunately, he'd never had the opportunity to make Hiccup refine them, and besides no-one else would have allowed it. What surprised him the most was the name Hiccup had given to the Night Fury; he had seen the beast head on, and it had teeth. " _I am sorry I let you down, Gobber. I know you wanted me to succeed in Dragon training, but it didn't work out. I just want to tell you that I'm leaving the archipelago. I want to see the world. For so long I have listened to you, the traders and the merchants, talk about distant lands, of people who are different from us. I want to meet them. I want to study their ways, their cultures. I want to see the world Gobber, I don't want to tied down to one island. And it's not a sudden decision - I've been thinking of leaving Berk for a long time. A helluva of a long time._

" _It all started when Stoick first started to beat me - at first it started when that invention I'd made destroyed part of the Hofferson's house and a few other parts of the village -,"_ Gobber paused as he groaned in remembrance of that mess. Stoick and the rest of the village had been furious with him as well for teaching Hiccup how to Smith, but he had never been able to understand why the village just couldn't let things drop - it had happened, it was done, but he continued reading, " _but then Snotlout and the 'nut twins kept telling him tales about how I was doing this and that, and he beat me up. Eventually, the bastard didn't need an excuse to, and I quote, "put some spine in ta boy."_

 _Anyway, I've been disowned and I'm not welcome on Berk anymore. It doesn't bother me anymore, but now there's a whole world of opportunity for me out there, and I want to see that world._

 _As for Berk, well it was never my home. The villagers want Snotlout to run everything, but you know I don't care about any of that. I just hope everyone is prepared to move to another island, seeing as Snotlout wrecks everything that he touches._

 _I'm sorry I couldn't have seen you, thanked you for everything you've done for me over the years, but I could not have left without at least saying goodbye. You see, I'm not coming back to Berk. There's nothing there for me when there's so much out there._

 _Goodbye Gobber, all the best._

 _Hiccup._

Gobber the Belch, a Viking warrior/blacksmith who was well renowned for his jolly attitude, was not surprised to realise he was crying by the time he'd reached the end of the letter. Unlike other Vikings who believed crying was a sign of weakness, Gobber and his family believed that sorrow was an emotion that no-one could do without because it only made you stronger.

But right now he didn't care about being a Viking even if he'd been one his entire life. He had just lost the closest thing he'd ever had to a son in his life. Gobber had had dozens of apprentices in his life as a blacksmith, but none of them barring Hiccup had been interested in smithing in the long term, and the only way they'd used the knowledge he'd imparted on them was fixing their own weapons and never looking into actually helping him to ease the workload he had on a daily basis.

Gobber sat down heavily on his bed and he re-read the letter again. Hiccup had said so much and yet he had not said anything. He hadn't said anything about how long it had taken for him to train the Night Fury, he had instead devoted much of the letter to writing his farewell.

After he'd finished, Gobber sighed and he opened up the letter Hiccup had left behind for Stoick, and he closed it quickly with a wince. Hiccup had not held back, but truthfully Gobber couldn't blame the boy.

Ignoring his fatigue, Gobber gathered up the two letters and he left his house in search for Stoick. The first places he checked were the chief's house, but Stoick wasn't there so that either left the Great Hall or the Kill Ring. The old blacksmith headed for the Hall, and he sighed with relief; he felt too tired to head for what was left of the Ring. Thinking about the mess the Ring had become made Gobber wince, and he wondered how Stoick would react when he found out Hiccup had destroyed it, but it still left the obvious question in his mind, how had he managed to translate the Chinese language?

Gobber pushed that aside as he found the chief of the tribe surrounded by a number of other Vikings, and he closed his eyes when the sound of their complaints overlapped each other. No wonder Hiccup had not cared about becoming the chief of the tribe, Gobber thought to himself, remembering how he'd seen his former apprentice so nonchalant about Stoick's rather insensitive announcement years ago when he'd caved under the pressure from the rest of the villagers to name Snotlout as his successor.

Gobber had found it truly unfair his old friend and the rest of their tribe had just pushed Hiccup away like that, and it was just another example of just how much of an awful parent Stoick really was since he wasn't even trying to give Hiccup a chance to become his own person. But Hiccup hadn't cared, and the boy's words still reverberated around the blacksmith's mind.

" _Why should it matter to me if my so-called father takes away something he's called my 'birthright' since I could talk? Everyone's always preferred Snotlout to be chief of this island? Let them, let them make that pea-brained biological disaster run this village into the ground. It's not my problem. By that point, I should be long banished. And to tell you the truth, I don't care. I'd rather be without a tribe than live on an island where Snotlout is allowed to get away with murder simply because he does it."_

That statement terrified Gobber. In his life, he had known dozens of Viking chiefs from the various tribes, and quite a few of them were just not what he'd consider being right for the role, though it was his own opinion. Thor alone knew how those Vikings lived under the 'care' of those chiefs, but Gobber had seen many chiefs who were more tolerant of their people and they ruled wisely and fairly. Look at Big-boobed Bertha, she was one of the only female chiefs in the archipelago, and yet she had been in power for many years, and she had a good reputation.

But Snotlout…

Gobber understood why everyone wanted him as the next chief when Stoick either died or became too old to carry on, but the blacksmith didn't particularly like the way Stoick had just decided to push his own flesh and blood away in favour of Spitelout's son. But now it looked as though the Berkians would have little choice but to have him as their next chief, but Gobber remembered the boy's pitiful performance in dragon training and he had quickly become tired of the arse-licking Snotlout had heaped on him as time passed.

Sighing, Gobber pushed through the crowd without apology so he could reach Stoick. "Stoick!" he called out as loudly as he could to get his old fiend's attention.

Stoick turned his head in Gobber's direction, and the blacksmith could see the clear signs of relief in the chief's eyes. "Okay, Gobber, what is it?"

Instead of answering the chief verbally, Gobber just handed the pieces of paper to Stoick, making sure the chief saw the letter that he'd received first. He wanted Stoick to get some of the story from Hiccup in order to prepare himself for what was to come.

Stoick took the pieces of paper in his massive hands and looked at Gobber in surprise and confusion.

"They're from Hiccup," Gobber said shortly.

The mention of his son was like magic. Stoick's expression visibly brightened while everyone else grumbled at the mention of the boy, but Gobber ignored them and just waited for Stoick's sudden cheerfulness to wither and die. The old Viking chief opened the letter addressed to Gobber and as his eyes travelled through the words to the end, his expression became less happy and more angry and sad at the same time as he read Gobber's letter. The chief had to re-read the blacksmiths letter three times before he hesitantly reached for the letter addressed to him, his expression making it clear he was trying to appear strong but not hiding the fact he was terrified about what it said.

They could see the expression on his face morph into grief, despair, anger, and horror. Gobber wondered which parts in the brief message went with those emotions, but he could guess.

 _You never wanted anything to do with me in the past, now I want nothing to do with you in the future._

 _Nothing new there, right Dad? No, sorry. I meant… Stoick. Or was it meant to be_ _ **Chief**_ _? Sorry, I could never tell seeing as you were always the daddy of Berk._

 _Well, you never my chief, you fucking pig!_

 _But in any case, it doesn't matter. I've ended the Dragon War, ended three centuries of blood and pain because I realised it was a waste. When Little Miss Perfect told you about me and my dragon, you told me I would have disappointed mum. How should I know? I never knew her, but you know something if she was anything like you (something else I blame you for, seeing as you thought I had no right to know anything about her. I could accept it if you were upset telling me stories, but you took it too far by saying in that tactless way of yours I didn't deserve to know her, so great job there), then I want nothing to do with her at all._

 _It's harsh but then what isn't?_

 _Anyway, it's in the past._

 _Believe it or not, Stoick, I forgive you for being the worst father in Viking history (actually, I'm not sure about that, but it doesn't matter to me since I am not and will never be a Viking), I even forgive you for those beatings 'ta put spine into the boy' because without them I would never have stopped trying to help an ungrateful tribe._

 _I don't care._

 _But I didn't try to stop shooting down a dragon, only I wasn't doing it for you or anyone else in the tribe, including Gobber who was a better father figure than you ever were; just because he didn't like the damage I caused doesn't mean he didn't get over it, whereas you and the other pathetic, childish members of the Hooligan tribe wouldn't let anything drop for a few months! I was doing it for myself, to convince myself I could become one of you after you'd driven me to a point no-one should ever be driven to. But you know what, I am not one of you. Why would I want to be like you, a bunch of fools who don't ever let those who've made a mistake hear the end of it?_

 _Gods, get over yourselves! The dragons caused plenty of damage during the raids, and yet when someone accidentally damages a few houses, you never let 'em hear the end of it._

 _Well, it doesn't matter anymore to me._

 _I doubt you'll see me again. But if I never see you or anyone from the Hooligan tribe (aside from Gobber, of course) it will be too soon. In the meantime, you and the rest of the tribe can be happy; the Snotmoron will be the next chief of the tribe but watch out for him. Snotlout is an arrogant idiot who cares only for himself._

 _Honestly, you people on Berk are really scraping the barrel when it comes to chief candidates, aren't you? One boy is an arrogant blowhard to doesn't care who gets hurt so long as he gets people fawning over him, one boy is an intellectual who is also a coward who won't get involved in anything, two teens are insane notches with only a working brain cell between them, and even that is questionable._

 _Last but not least is Astrid Hofferson._

 _If I were you, I would train HER to be the chief. I don't like Astrid; she's arrogant, single-minded (actually she's perfect for the job), but she's better than the others. At least she doesn't talk about herself, fight with others for stupid reasons, and she doesn't care to talk about facts. But let me tell you one thing - she doesn't like people getting in her way._

 _Train her._

 _Goodbye._

Stoick was not sure what to think. The letter missed out on so much. It was just short, sharp, to the point…. and Hiccup had been utterly ruthless in making it clear he wanted nothing more to do with his former tribe. There were no details about what he planned to do, but thinking about it Stoick had to see it made sense. The chief had a feeling his ex-son had no idea what he was going to do now, and even if he did then he wasn't likely to write it down in the letter. The part of the letter that annoyed him the most was the cruel way, which was how he'd described Valka, and Stoick's first instinct was to bellow with rage at the disrespectful way the boy had written that about her.

But he had to admit, Hiccup had a point and Stoick had to accept that after his entire world and the foundation his reality had been built on had been ripped out from under him. The war was over. The nest had been destroyed, though not in the way Vikings for the last three hundred years had imagined or even foreseen it. So much had changed and now Stoick the Vast had no idea what to do, and on top of that _**Hiccup,**_ the least able on Berk, his own biological child, had ended the war by _**flying a dragon**_.

Now he was gone, and he had made it clear in the same letter that he wanted nothing more to do with him, with Berk, with anything of his former life, except Gobber. It hurt the old chieftain, it truly did hurt, when he read what his son had written about Gobber being a better father than Stoick himself was because instead of constantly going on about all those disasters he moved on after presumably showing his annoyance and leaving it at that.

Thinking about it, Stoick wondered if he had made the mistake of letting things get out of hand, and he realised he had.

 _ **Gods**_ , Stoick thought to himself, _**what have I done? Val, I am so sorry. Hiccup… please come back to me….. let me make it up to you.**_

* * *

Until next time.


	4. Chapter 4 Nadder's Point

Happy Halloween!

As before I do not own HTTYD, but I do own this story. Please leave some feedback for this story.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

Magnus the blacksmith wiped his brow and looked out of the forge's open window to take a look at the sky. It was beginning to get darker, and soon the forge would need to be closed. He turned to face the lads whom he'd hired to help him. The blacksmith, like most Vikings, was a large man with broad shoulders that was indicative of good Viking birth tempered by training and working in the forge.

Unlike others he was clean shaven because, as he always told any of his helpers or those whom he met who were mystified by his lack of a proper Viking beard that he had once seen a kid who was messing about in a forge when he was a boy himself accidentally get set alight when some of the forge's fire accidentally fell into his hair.

The sight of the fool boy's hair catching alight and seeing how the smoke and the sparks from the forge smouldered their mentor's moustache and beard hadn't helped, so the blacksmith's decision to never grow a beard or moustache became pre-ordained.

The blacksmith had dealt with scorn over his decision from many over the years, but he truly didn't care. It was his decision, not theirs.

He gave a shrill whistle and all of his helpers paused. "Okay, that's enough for today. You've done good work, all of yer!" he grinned.

All of his forge hands left the forge, and the blacksmith watched them leave so then he could make sure they were all gone so he could clear up the place and lock up. True he could have made them do that, but he decided to give them a break after all the work they'd done. Sure, the blacksmith was sometimes frustrated with some of the lads since some of them had been passed on to him in order for them to have something worthwhile to do now the dragon war was over, but that was how things were for him now so he'd had to make the best of it.

Not that they'd have many options if the war was still on, he reflected himself. Nadder's point rarely had a dragon raid, maybe once or twice a year, and that was it. So there wasn't much point for the island to have a Kill Ring, but the kids were taken on as "apprentices" to dragon hunters and slayers where they could get the opportunities they'd need.

Not anymore.

Now everyone had to make do.

Magnus himself wasn't sure what to make of the stories and rumours over what had ended the war. A boy riding a dragon? It sounded ridiculous, not just blasphemous, but it wasn't his problem. His problem was making sure his forge kept running. The workload increased every day. The townspeople were lucky; during the war, the dragon raids rarely touched the place, and with the influx of new merchants and travellers, more and more people were allowed to emigrate when even their Viking stubbornness had lost the will to bother fighting against the dragons. Magnus had not blamed them since there was only so much you could take when you were fighting those vile things.

But it wasn't just the townspeople who came to him with their bits that needed mending. It was the travellers, the merchants, and whoever happened to come to Nadder's Point.

The hub island had no allegiance to anyone, and the chief himself didn't truly care who came to the island so long as they didn't bring any grief. Magnus felt pity for the man. The chief had been called away to various meetings over the last few months to speak to the various tribes in the aftermath of the war, though he didn't say what they were about, that was his prerogative.

To be honest, Magnus wasn't bothered with politics though he was curious about what was going to happen now the war was over. Many people who learnt about the successful end to the raids, though the story of how it had happened was still being sent around the archipelago was still vague though everyone knew it was the Hairy Hooligan tribe who were the ones releasing the story, were trying to decide how to cope with the end of the war.

It wasn't some new golden age. Life for the Viking went on, but 300 years had taught the Vikings that dragons were monsters and everyone, including Magnus, believed the dragons would launch attacks against the various islands.

But it hadn't happened. Nadder's Point was a great place to gather news and pass it on so it wasn't out of date to the various islands beyond the Core. There had been no attacks.

There were no new stories of dragons violently attacking the tribes, killing innocents and the elderly, no stories of villages being torn apart and set alight until there was nothing but burnt rubble.

It was almost as though the dragons had disappeared, though they were still sighted flying above various ships, though they didn't seem to care about the humans below. It was like the dragons didn't care. Magnus himself couldn't understand why that was, but he had too much on his hands already to put his mind to the task of working out what was going on. The dragon war ending wouldn't stop his workload from increasing, and it hadn't.

But…. it was just so hard to teach a bunch of kids how to Smith. Some of them had had their hearts set on going out and becoming dragon trappers or killers so then they could do their part in the war, so they had little knowledge of how to Smith.

But then his eyes traced a much shorter boy who was much smaller than the others, and he had to concede that only one kid was good at smithing, though it was evident to the blacksmith the boy had been trained in how to handle being in a forge.

No-one knew much about him.

He had just shown up to the island a few weeks ago, looking for work while selling off dragon scales and fangs he'd somehow come across while he managed to get some work at the forge. The blacksmith had taken him on when the boy, who had shown a vast amount of spirit for someone so tiny asked to be given a chance to show off what he could do, and he'd been hired as a result. Magnus had met many Smiths in his time, but this kid was a natural craftsman.

The boy was amazing as a smith, but the blacksmith didn't know too much about him. Not for the first time, he wished when he'd been given the job of the blacksmith at this Hub which led into different parts of the archipelago, that he didn't need to have such an enormous workload so then he could ask the boy question about where he came from.

Shrugging his broad shoulders, the blacksmith turned his back and shut up shop. It would be a short night for him tonight, he would need to account for everything in the forge and he would need to go to the Hall and get some supper and some mead, and then he'd have to come back the next morning and he'd have to work all over again.

But someone had to do it.

* * *

Hiccup sighed as he walked away from the forge on his way to the Great Hall for something to eat while he walked behind the boys from the forge. He was tired and he wanted to grab something to eat before he left the town and returned to where he'd left Toothless. He knew as soon as he met the impatient Night Fury he'd be forced to fly whether he liked it or not.

That was one of the problems he had living here at Nadder's Point.

While the island harbour and town was a hub that was close to the edge of the outer Core which led on to distant lands to the south where the Roman Empire and other lands existed and led to more remote tribal islands in each direction and gave Hiccup the time he needed to either purchase maps and listen to news and distant stories to give him some ideas of where he'd probably go in the coming years while working on maintaining the prosthetic for a little bit longer while he could research ways of making a new tail-fin that was more efficient and durable than what the Night Fury had at the moment, he didn't like being here.

He was separated from Toothless most of the time, so he had no idea what was going on on that little heap of rock the Vikings here had just discarded because it was too small to be colonised and there were no wild animals for them to hunt, but that didn't mean some fisherman couldn't stumble across the Night Fury by accident.

Hiccup always had to remind himself Toothless wasn't stupid enough to get caught out like that. The Night Fury had a long memory; he remembered how one minute everything was peaceful in the cove back on Berk while they prepared to leave, and then they were both taken by surprise when Astrid had led them to the cove. He wasn't likely to make the mistake of being out in the open, and even if someone happened to come upon the little camp and found the shed scales and footprints, they'd just think a dragon had landed there during the dead of night and flown away.

Toothless was good at finding hiding spots. They wouldn't find him, though his prosthetic made it hard for him to truly put some distance between him and anyone who went out. Fortunately, no-one had found the camp, but everyday Hiccup was tense someone would find it. That was one reason why Hiccup was always desperate to get out to the camp as often as he could, it wasn't as if he were being watched since people came and went every day, and he would spend the night with his dragon, and sometimes they'd go flying just to experience the freedom of being in the air, away from the mundane life on a Viking island that didn't have anything to offer him anyway, away from listening to the same boasts and laughs that could shake a forest to its roots.

Unfortunately for tonight he was too tired after spending hours working at the forge, but he had needed the money in order to buy the supplies he needed so then he could make it easier for him to leave the archipelago and so he could pay the rent to his extremely small flat that he'd rented so then everyone would think he lived on the island so he wouldn't arouse suspicion.

The Vikings here saw people come and go all the time, but Hiccup had taken that step so then no-one became suspicious even though the town harbour was bustling and extremely busy. It may not have been necessary, but Hiccup had needed the room to store some of the lighter supplies he needed for later. Besides there were times he was too tired to actually go out to the island Toothless was hiding on. The Night Fury may not like it, but Hiccup always assuaged his sadness that they couldn't always be together.

As he walked behind the boys at a slow trot, Hiccup thought about how things had been since the end of the dragon war. It had been six months since he had killed that Dragon Queen and finally cut his ties to the Hairy Hooligans. Now he was out and exploring beyond the confines of Berk, but he had been extremely busy.

It had taken him six months for him to travel to the various islands of the various tribes to free the dragons imprisoned in their Kill Rings. Hiccup blew out an exhausted breath. When he'd started his little crusade to free the dragons, he had underestimated just how large and difficult his self-imposed task would be.

There were simply too many islands holding the various annoyingly stubborn tribes Hiccup had heard of over the years. He knew where some of them were of course, and he had instantly flown out to them after he'd left Berk while the Hooligans had nothing but a few meagre ships of what was left of a once large fleet so they couldn't tell anybody about what had happened while their precious village was in a mess. Hiccup sometimes asked himself what his ex-father's reaction was when he was able to meet with the other chiefs only to find out their Kill Rings had been demolished in the same manner as Berks, but he didn't care.

Dragon trappers. Dragonslayers. Dragon collectors. The list went on and on.

When he had first begun to free the dragons from various Vikings, he had not expected to find out just how many people actually collected dragons and mutilated them to provide some form of sick entertainment. Hiccup had heard of the Roman gladiators using exotic animals and people to provide entertainment, but when he had seen for himself what the Vikings did to dragons….

Hiccup shook his head and forced down the bile he could feel building in his stomach. He felt physically sick just thinking about the dragons he'd encountered in those places, some of them no longer able to fly because either their wings had been sawn off, literally sawn off, or their tail-fins had been torn off much like Toothless' own fin.

He closed his eyes and he had to mentally kill the image of what had needed to be done to those dragons who no longer cared about living anymore when he'd found them.

That was one of the reasons why he found living on Nadder's Point to be such a chore because so many of the teenagers who'd participated in the war either by selling their skills like mercenaries came back with awful stories of what they'd done. Hiccup had spent the last few weeks listening to the boasts of some of the older adults who came back like conquering heroes expecting the island to worship them simply because of how many dragons they'd caged or killed, and their stories made him feel really sick. It was only because he needed to gather a few more maps and supplies for the prosthetic that he stayed.

In truth, he knew he could just sneak to a tribe and break into a forge and use that, but he wanted to be self-sufficient enough so then if something happened while they were out there and there wasn't a forge nearby then he would have what he needed instead of being marooned on some island.

He had gathered some of the tools he'd need to build a crude forge, but he didn't want to use them unless he had to, but he didn't want to overload his Night Fury with all kinds of bits and that was why he came here to Nadder's Point. To get a break, gather supplies while working on the prosthetic, and then leave.

Nadder's Point…..

He had heard about the place growing up - the stories of its name varied. One story had it that the island itself had once been the home of a flock of Deadly Nadders who were slaughtered or driven off, while another one had simply had the Vikings who settled on the island to give travellers and merchants the chance to gather supplies, catch up on the gossip and basically rest give it a name to differentiate it from the other Hub islands. There were dozens of them throughout the archipelago and Hiccup had not visited many of them yet.

Truthfully Hiccup didn't really care what had possessed the Vikings to name the place Nadder's Point. To him, this place presented to him the best opportunity to not just gather supplies and basic directions towards other tribes and islands he'd never heard of, never mind encountered before, but to find out what was going on, and while he found living here a chore because the boys and other teenagers furious because even now, six months since the war had ended, many of the dragons had just avoided the various tribes meaning there were fewer opportunities for the kids here to hunt them down, he needed to know what was going on while he gathered supplies and continued looking for dragons who were in trouble with the Vikings.

Doing this on his own….. Hiccup sighed in weary exhaustion. Unfortunately, his sigh was picked up by another Viking boy.

"What are you sighing for, runt?" he sneered.

Hiccup forced himself to look at the boy. Bignose was one of the new hands at the forge, and the moment they'd met the other boy had made it his life's mission to make life as difficult and nearly as unbearable for Hiccup as Snotlout had been. It figured in Hiccup's mind he'd leave Berk, but he would find people who'd be substitutes for the bastards who'd made his life next to unbearable all his life on Berk.

Truthfully, Bignose was a waste of time. He was just another macho Viking boy who was trying to muscle his way to glory, but now the war was over he was trying to find whatever he could to ease his frustrations that he was never going to kill any dragons. Hiccup had often heard the teenager moan about it in the Great Hall to anyone who'd listen, and he had overheard the boy grumbling at the forge. Working as a blacksmith help was not the glorious future Bignose or some of the other teens had expected, it wasn't exactly a substitute for the good ole' rough, tumble, blood and guts and talons, glorious war he had envisioned for himself.

Naturally, Hiccup did not care.

But he had learnt from experience to keep away from kids like Bignose, especially Bignose who was always spoiling for a fight.

"Just sighing 'cause of work, that's all," Hiccup replied, hoping the other teen didn't make a big deal out of it though he knew the other boy was spoiling for a fight.

Bignose chuckled, showing his crooked teeth. Hiccup wondered what on Midgard the guy had done to make his teeth so hideous - there was no way someone's mouth could be that crooked, it _simply had to_ be self-inflicted.

"Yeah, about that," Bignose's raspy voice brought him back to the present. "Where're yer from? We ain't seen you 'round 'ere 'fore. Yet yer comes here just a few weeks ago, and expect our blacksmith to give yer a job."

Hiccup wondered what the teenager's point was. His arrival to the island wasn't some major event and he had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure no-one in authority really knew he was here. It would have been virtually impossible for him to do that with the smaller tribes like the Meatheads of the Berserkers, but here it was easy to slip into the crowd.

Besides, the chief didn't care. He had enough problems as it was, and he couldn't keep tabs on who came here. Hiccup had been keeping a low profile on Nadder's Point and as long as he was here it was going to stay that. He didn't care about breaking into Kill Rings, the story of those cases would tie up the archipelago and make enough noise for the Hairy Hooligans and the others to send out hunting parties when the tribes tried looking for him. The story of a boy riding a dragon had gotten out months ago, and even though people laughed there was quite a bit of proof to back it up.

Hiccup had sometimes flown close to different ships so then the crews got a good look at him, though not good enough to get a good look at his features. He wanted people to know he existed because it created noise and even if someone hunted him down, they wouldn't know where to look while he could hide on hub like this.

"What's your point?" He knew it was dangerous and extremely reckless to provoke or antagonise a Viking teen who was built like a Gronckle, but Hiccup was extremely bored of this. Bignose and some of his friends had been forced to mooch around the island for the last six months once word reached them the war was over, looking for something meaningful to do with their lives now their career choices had been washed away.

Bignose's face was thrust really close to Hiccup's. The smaller boy needed to call up every ounce of confidence and courage he had gained over the last few months to just keep standing in the same spot to avoid the overpowering stench of the other teen's body odour. "The point is we don't know who you are."

"You could be a spy for one of our enemies," another boy, a friend of Bignose's who had a name that sounded like Trollshoulder, or something like that, spoke up.

"If I was then why would be working in a blacksmith's forge?" Hiccup asked, feeling that they were trying to clutch for straws. "Wouldn't it make more sense for me to be close to the chief of this island?"

The two Viking teens looked at each other with bewildered expressions on their ugly faces, and Hiccup just sighed wearily. Pointing out logical thoughts to some Viking teenagers was like pulling out teeth. But before anyone could say anything else, Magnus the blacksmith lumbered up to the group.

"C'mon lads, time to eat," he said, clapping his hands on the backs of Bignose and on Hiccup. It took all of the shorter boy's willpower to not wince at the impact, but it was a near thing while Bignose didn't even grimace since he had muscles to absorb the clap.

The Great Hall of Nadder's Point was much larger and more ornate than the Halls he'd seen during his time with the Hairy Hooligan tribe. Although Stoick had made it a point to not take him to many of the Things despite how against protocol it was and how many of the other Vikings laughed at Hiccup's short stature, the young dragon rider had seen his fair share of Halls.

This one was far larger and there were more places where visitors and travellers, as well as the people who actually lived on Nadder's Point, could sit and eat and enjoy themselves. After grabbing some food for himself, Hiccup walked over to a fairly uninhabited part of the hall, making sure to keep away from the rest of the crowd, though there were a couple of travellers that he had seen land from a ship a few days ago. He had seen them enjoy two nights to themselves, but then they had begun to mingle with the other travellers, swapping stories and basically making trades, so Hiccup didn't feel bad about interrupting them tonight. He wanted to leave soon, and the more he learnt tonight, the better.

It was obvious they were a married couple. The man was as large as a regular Viking, but he lacked the typical helmet, but he was armed and he had a large sword that was more like a woodcutter's axe. The woman was smaller than the man but much larger than Hiccup in terms of height and build, with long brown almost black hair.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Hiccup asked as he approached. "I'd like to know more about your travels."

The woman and the man were slightly surprised by the statement. "Sure," the man replied, seeming okay with the thought of speaking to a villager even if Hiccup wasn't a villager.

Hiccup smiled and he sat down and began to eat. "We get so many travellers here, it's hard to keep track. But it's good to know more about what's out there."

He had learnt that flattery was sometimes the best means of getting answers. Usually, it worked but sometimes it didn't, the trick was just going into it with his eyes open and just find out.

"This place is great for it," the woman said. "But if you've lived here all of your life, you must've heard it all?"

"I have, but that doesn't mean someone hasn't got anything new to say," Hiccup said smoothly, not bothering to tell the woman that her assumption he'd lived here all his life was wrong. A large part of him wished he had, but if that had happened he'd never have met Toothless.

Between the time it took for Hiccup to sit down and for when the travellers decided to retire, there was a lot of talk between them both. Hiccup had told them both he had travelled around for a bit with his merchant parents, and he had used the places he had seen during the past six months as a template for his own stories so then the travellers wouldn't feel like they were being interviewed. They were nonetheless surprised and intrigued that a boy working in a forge was seemingly well travelled, even if it was around the major homelands of some of the major tribes, though Hiccup had told them a bit about tribes he had encountered who were much further away from the Core.

In return, Hiccup learnt a lot more about the lands they'd visited. He also learnt the woman was a former member of the Bog-Burglar tribe (when he'd heard that, he prayed to Thor and Odin alike she did not know Camicazi; the last thing he needed was for anyone whom he knew from any of the other tribes finding out where he was, and taking clues but luckily she didn't), and Hiccup learnt she had become tired of the never-ending dragon wars and the way life never seemed to progress.

She had petitioned the chieftess of the tribe to let her go, and let her see the world. She had travelled for years in a single boat, and while she always tried to visit her former tribe when she could, it had been years since she had seen anyone from the Bog-Burglars.

During her travels, she met and later married her husband who was a merchant himself, but he was also a bit of a rogue. It was that which had attracted him to her, and together they either explored parts of the sea and the surrounding lands and had encountered the Romans and had travelled all the way to Asia, or they had plundered it as a pirate duo.

Hiccup was intrigued when he heard about Asia. He remembered Gobber the Belch's tales about those lands that the old triple amputee had visited in his youth when he'd wanted to see the world as well before returning to Berk to help his tribe, he also remembered how much trouble it had been to get that crude translation from Trader Johann who knew some characters of Chinese so he could make his own gunpowder. Johann had shown him as much as he could during that brief visit, but it had almost not been enough to help Hiccup make gunpowder, and it had been a nightmare to find the right ingredient though the ones he had already given him more than enough clues and Johann had been more than helpful.

As he spoke to the travellers, Hiccup learnt a great deal about them as people. He learnt they were preparing to head out for Bog-Burglar territory to settle down briefly and have the time to raise a family; Hiccup wished them luck.

In return, Hiccup told them he planned to leave Nadder's Point in the future and travel around on his own. He was telling the truth. The only thing he didn't tell them was how long it would be before he made his move.

When the meeting was over, Hiccup left with a few crudely drawn maps to places distant of Nadder's Point, and he had a good idea of where to go next.

* * *

After leaving the hall, Hiccup headed out to the dock and walked towards a fairly small jetty where a tiny sailboat was waiting for him. After dumping his supplies in the small basket, Hiccup untied the mooring rope and used a small oar to push the boat away from the jetty and then he began to slowly row the boat away from the town.

Unlike Berk which was surrounded by the sea with nothing to protect the island itself from the rough waves and tremendous storms, Nadder's Point was surrounded by smaller islands that were too small for the uses of the Vikings living on the main island except for additional supplies of wood, and there were was a large and rocky reef that was difficult to navigate. But it was the combination of the small islands and the reef that protected the Viking island harbour from the worst of the storms that frequently rocked the rest of the archipelago.

Ignoring the ache in his arms as he pulled the oars towards one of the islands, Hiccup took his time as he rowed out, knowing from recent experience it was not a good idea to waste his energy. When he finally arrived after an hour's rowing, Hiccup used the momentum of the boat's speed to beach his tiny boat. He braced himself and flinched as the impact shook his bones, just like it always did.

Hiccup got out of the boat and pulled out the same rope he'd used to moor the boat to the jetty and tied it to a second rope that was tied around a tree before he grabbed his things and walked away from the beach before he came upon a rock. Reaching behind the rock he pulled out a torch and a couple of flints. It took him a moment but he managed to create the spark needed to light it before he went through the forest. He wasn't frightened of being attacked by any large animals since there weren't any. But the terrain made his journey longer as he clambered over the rocks he was reminded about why he had chosen this particular island in the first place.

After a journey of what seemed like hours, Hiccup came across a small rocky clearing. There was only enough lighting for him to pick out the shadows of the rocks that surrounded the clearing as they mixed with the trees. It reminded him of the cove that he'd used to hide Toothless when he'd managed to partially restore his draconian friend's flight.

Almost as though hearing his thoughts, Loki in an act of his typical sick humour, surprised him.

Hiccup gasped when he felt a familiar scaled mass of muscle knock into him and he collapsed to the ground before he felt a familiar tongue excitedly lick him almost to death which made him gasp for breath even that didn't give him any reprieve since what air he had was a powerful stench of rotten fish.

"Toothless!…. It's…..good to see…..you too, bud," Hiccup managed to get out. "But you know… licking….. I can't wash it out. C'mon Bud, let me up!"

It took a while for Hiccup to get the overjoyed Toothless off of him, but when he did he was practically covered in Night Fury saliva, some of it Hiccup jokingly flicked back at Toothless when the dragon laughed at him. He wasn't laughing when he had some of his own spit flicked back his own way.

After Toothless lit a small fire, Hiccup leaned against the Night Fury. "Not soon now, bud, not soon now. We're gonna leave here soon."

The Night Fury warbled happily. Hiccup usually always took the dragon out on night flights before they returned to the clearing where they could continue to hide, but since he was trying to maintain some cover on Nadder's Point he always made sure Toothless was aware of when he was not going to be around. The Night Fury was smart enough to know when to not attract any attention, and whenever he realised someone else was in the clearing he would always take a deep sniff to make sure it was Hiccup. The dragon was not stupid enough to tempt fate.

Hiccup patted the Night Fury and was relieved he was with his friend and not in that pokey little apartment he was currently renting on Nadder's Point. He slept there as often as he could to maintain the cover he had so no-one really got too suspicious of who he was and what he was really doing on the island. He hadn't done this at first, he had only started because Bignose was asking too many questions.

Tonight, though, he didn't really care.

While he nuzzled into his best friend's form, Hiccup went over the maps he'd managed to buy whenever he was taking a break. Getting hold the damn things had sometimes costed him, but they were worth it. Hiccup lifted his head and looked towards a corner of the clearing that had a few rocks on top.

When he had first started gathering his supplies, Hiccup had nowhere to hide them and keep them safe, so he had simply looked around and he had dug a small hole in the ground and he had covered the supplies in the holes while wrapping them up in protective cloth and then refilled the hole. As he'd continued to gather supplies and maps for his future journeys, Hiccup had simply re-dug the hole and made it larger, wider and deeper and did the same thing.

Among the supplies Hiccup had gathered over the last few weeks, were spare parts for the tail-fin. It hadn't been easy to find the opportunities to make new parts for the tail-fin covertly, so Hiccup had sometimes asked the blacksmith Magnus if he could use the nights to do some work. Hiccup had been Gobber's apprentice for years, so Hiccup had helped ease Magnus's workload a great deal because he was one of the few teenagers in the forge with any expertise.

Getting permission was not difficult, and besides, sometimes Hiccup often worked a few hours even after closing time to ease the load for the coming day so that gave him extra credit where Magnus was concerned. The other teenagers hadn't liked it but because of Hiccup's work, the young rider was well thought of since he didn't just repair any weapon or tool, he made them much better than they had been before. Besides the teenagers knew that Magnus sometimes took the time to work on some of the piles that came in each day with Hiccup, and he had made it clear he would not tolerate messing around. But mostly the teenagers hated working during the day, so they didn't really want anything to do with the forge at night.

It had taken a lot of work to earn that credit, but it was worth it if it made sure Toothless' prosthetic had enough spare parts for months, and the majority of them were buried under the earth in Toothless's saddlebags.

He was almost ready.

* * *

What did you think? The chapter where Hiccup will become a dragon pirate is coming up soon.


	5. Chapter 5 Found!

I don't own How to train your Dragon, but I own this story.

Please tell me what you think about this story.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

Walking among the vendors of Nadder's Point, Hiccup effortlessly sidestepped the massive hulks of the Vikings around him as he looked around the stalls to see if there was anything else he needed to take with him on his journeys while he was on a lunch break at the forge while he avoided Bignose and his friends. Hiccup had caught the three teenagers following him around, though he didn't know what they were trying to achieve, he hoped they were just trying to distract themselves because the war with the dragons was over. They hadn't spoken to him yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they did.

Too bad for them he had plans of his own. He was only looking through the stalls for anything he could use. He'd already stolen a few tools from various forges whenever he liberated the dragons from the various Kill Rings to help him set up a forge of his own, and he'd already gotten himself the type of string needed to make a bow or a crossbow for archery, but he was still looking through the stalls for anything interesting that he could use.

He planned to leave Nadder's Point in another few days. In the meantime he was just killing time by working at the forge, flying and spending time with Toothless, and learning all he knew.

The problem with living on any small, single island like Berk, surrounded by tribes living on equally small islands, and living and working with an old traveller like Gobber who had seen what was beyond the waters of the archipelago made you see the world in just two ways, and when you flew a dragon, those ways became more tangible. On Berk, Hiccup had been isolated with the tribe. It was alright for the chief and the warriors who had frequently left on their hunts for the dragon nest, and for the fishermen who had left the island for days, even weeks at a time, but Hiccup remembered feeling envious of them. Whenever he had gone out with his father as the heir of the tribe, Hiccup had been overjoyed since he was getting away from Berk and seeing what was out there, though he'd always been disappointed whenever he'd gone to another Viking island - he was just leaving one Viking island for another.

But ever since he had left Berk and he'd begun his travels, and his crusade to free the dragons from the various Kill Rings, Hiccup had travelled as far and as wide as he could before he got down to business. Sometimes it would take Toothless what seemed like days blended into one, though it was just a few hours, to reach another island. Hiccup had told Toothless to show him what was beyond the nest at Helheim's and the dragon had shown him places that the Vikings had simply not reached in all the time they'd lived in these waters.

That made sense. The Vikings had come to these waters specifically to colonise it and to find the dragon nest and destroy it. While they'd found islands with the right resources in land for farming and forests to cut down to provide the basic materials for building houses and ships to help them in their quest to destroy the dragons once and for all, plants for healing and animals for hunting, and ores for blacksmiths, and so exploration was not at the forefront of their minds. The only people who carried out exploration missions were mostly merchants - they were always looking for new trade routes to sell their wares, and Thor alone knew what they'd found during their travels. Hiccup knew from some of the merchants he'd encountered since he'd left Berk and had visited Nadder's Point that some of the merchants had gone much further east, though the trip was long and difficult for them, especially if they travelled by ship.

Others included fishermen. Sometimes they had gotten lost during the frequent storms whenever Thor had been exercising his power, and they'd strayed off course and they'd sometimes found new lands. Some of them had been colonised, though it meant nothing to the tribes. That type of news wasn't considered relevant.

Likewise, more than a few ships sent out to hunt down the nest during the dragon war had gotten lost. Hiccup had heard rumours about that over the years, but nothing definite. He had heard some of the tribe mocking them for not being good sailors, though Stoick and Gobber had put them down; Stoick because he believed they were putting a lot of effort into contributing to destroy the nest and finally rid the Viking race of the threat of the dragons once and for all, and Gobber because, as a sailor himself, he knew only too well what could happen if you were blown off course.

But when he'd left, he'd heard dozens of stories of various tribes who'd lost ships over the years.

But Hiccup had also heard something else he hadn't heard back on Berk, though he was not sure why it had been suppressed or hidden, though he could guess. Dozens of Viking tribes had actually been close to the nest, but the dragons had either destroyed them or had driven them off. Hiccup had a good idea why he'd never heard of them, but truthfully Stoick's motives meant nothing to him anymore. He had better things to do.

Hiccup pushed those thoughts of annoyance he had the Vikings had not really bothered to explore the archipelago so then they'd broaden their horizons instead of focusing all of their thoughts on the war.

"Let's see," he thought to himself as he went over his current supplies, "I've got some tools, a couple of journals and charcoals. I've forged a couple of daggers and some arrowheads I plan to use, and I'm starting to make design plans for a crossbow which is quicker to reload. I've got a few other bits to get."

Hiccup was just walking around the harbour when he stopped in horror when he took a look at the ships in the harbour. One of the newest ships just arriving had the crest of the Hairy Hooligan tribe on the sail. "Oh no," he whispered before he turned around and ran back into the crowd, weighted down by some of his purchases, but he had to escape. He rushed into his little flat and looked at the things he had on his bed. There were a few journals, some rolls of fresh and hard leather for use for the tail-fin, and a few maps. Hiccup sighed as his mind tried to think of a way he could get to the island without the Hooligans spotting him. He needed to go now because the longer he was here in this apartment on the largest island in Nadder's Point, the easier it would be for his former tribe to find him, or more likely someone telling them when their council was given a description of what he looked like where he could be found.

Hiccup looked at his things on the bed and he closed his eyes in frustration when he realised what he would need to do. He would need to leave some of this stuff behind. Growling and grinding his teeth with irritation, he chucked everything he was carrying on the bed so he could sort them all out into what he needed most. So much for being self-sufficient for a while, he thought to himself as he got down to work.

It took Hiccup slightly longer than he'd originally intended, but when he was finished he had a small satchel now stuffed full of what he wanted to take - he had deliberately left behind some of the leather rolls for weight, some of the journals he'd bought on a whim, and a few other things though he was grateful he had gotten the more essential bits out first to the island like the blankets he'd purchased for himself and Toothless to keep the Night Fury warm when the dragon had captured enough heat, and the prosthetic parts.

Hiccup took the satchel to the window and he went back to the bed and took out the rope ladder he'd fashioned for himself just in case something happened on Nadder's Point to make him escape in a hurry - he had started to never feel comfortable in a place surrounded by other human beings, not unless he happened to have some pre-determined route of escape.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Council chamber of Nadder's Point, the chief of the island was currently in conference with the delegation from Berk, who were led by one of Stoick the Vast's trusted men, Gobber. The chief of the island knew, of course, Gobber's reputation for being a level-headed dragon killer, sailor and storyteller who told some truly weird tales, but he knew the man standing before him was being completely serious.

For the last six months, the chief had spoken to a number of other chiefs on various islands as the news from Berk leaked about the end of the dragon war.

The chief of the island had fought the dragons himself many times over his lifetime, so he wasn't particularly sorry to see the war over. He had once been part of an expedition to find and destroy the nest himself, but that was when he'd gone out with a band of dragon slayers who'd taken a rag-tag bunch of Vikings, pirates, mercenaries and they'd gone out in a massive fleet to track down the nest.

But it had failed. He had been one of the few survivors.

The problem with the nest was as soon as you pass through the mists, you have no visibility and the dragons themselves had it in spades. They had aerial supremacy and a knowledge of where the rocks behind the fog barriers were, which was an even bigger help since they could use the rocks to their advantage as hiding spots.

The chief remembered all those long days floating on what was left of the ships along with a handful of over survivors. The dragons had hit the fleet harder than they'd ever done to a some of the ships sent out by the various tribes. The chief of Nadder's Point had a theory they'd the large fleet he'd attacked in droves; the Vikings had sent such a large fleet they'd needed to be more destructive. It made sense. The chief of Nadder's Point had heard and trained against rare breeds throughout his childhood, breeds like the Timberjacks, the Scauldrons, and even a Skrill. The fleet hadn't stood a chance.

The chief shuddered as he remembered the feeling of scolding water being spewed over him and some of his friends, the water was so hot that he had felt as though his skin was melting off of the bones.

It was the first and the last time the chief of Nadder's Point had contributed to a hunt. He didn't really care if other Vikings had deemed him to be a coward. He had the scars to prove he wasn't, and besides, it had been extremely rare whenever the dragons had travelled far enough to raid his island since they'd always preferred the islands closest to the nest. When he and others had heard the story of a truly big monstrous dragon in the nest who dwelt inside, he had no idea what to think since the Hooligans hadn't really had the time to get an idea of what the dragon did.

"Do you think this boy, Hiccup, is here?"

The question was asked by one of his councillors while the chief was silent so then he could observe the Hooligans. Interestingly enough Gobber was escorted by a handful of teens. Two girls, two boys. The rest of the Hooligans' little crew was still on their ship. Gobber and the others were only here to share some news and to find out if their lost lad was here, or if he had dropped in, though truthfully the chief of Nadder's Point thought Stoick was being optimistic as he'd heard the chief of the Hooligan tribe was currently out there on a ship himself to find his lost son, but as he listened to the Hooligan's blacksmith regale them with the tale of Stoick's now disowned son riding a Night Fury, he couldn't help but wonder if his island had in fact been hiding the boy for a while.

Gobber sighed mentally as he heard the question, and the scepticism not so subtly hidden behind it. When Stoick had told him to venture out into the waters close to Nadder's Point, he had decided to at least visit the place though he'd known that if Hiccup were here then the chances of actually finding him would be close to impossible. Even if the chief and the council of this hub island could do it, they could never actually keep track of any new faces. Not like they could have done on the smaller tribal islands where the communities were so close-knit anyone new would have been easily spotted.

But Hiccup was not stupid. Gobber knew he would avoid being seen on those islands even if he needed them, but he couldn't help but feel Stoick was once more underestimating the odds as he had with the dragon nest. He'd had a lot of time to think since the war ended; without the stresses brought on by dragon raids and training one generation of irritating teenagers after another, Gobber had watched how his long-time friend had driven himself insane trying to find Hiccup, and it had reminded him how he'd continually looked for the nest.

But Hiccup was not a dragon nest. He was a boy with a mind of his own, and while he was weak and frail, he made up for it with his intelligence.

But Berk and many of the other tribes who'd heard the story of what Hiccup had done had also been getting reports and had begun hearing rumours of sightings of a boy riding a dragon, leading away from Berk, lending credence to the story the Hooligans had told. At first, Gobber had wondered what his ex-apprentice was playing at, but then he realised that Hiccup was leading them around so if anyone was hunting him down they'd go one way only to learn he wasn't anywhere near where he'd been spotted.

Gobber only hoped Hiccup knew what he was doing. There were many people out there who would love to possess Hiccup's knowledge of dragons and would use it without any hesitation to destroy what the Vikings had built.

"It's possible," Gobber spoke before any of the teens could offer one of their useless and pathetic opinions. "Hiccup always wanted to travel, and to do that he'd need supplies. Nadder's Point is one of a number of places he'd visit to get 'em. We dunno if he's 'ere or not, but it's a good idea to find out."

"D'you know how hard it is ta keep track of people who come and go from Nadder's Point?" someone scoffed.

Gobber sighed. He'd known this would happen, but he was tired of the never-ending quest to track Hiccup down since he doubted the boy would want to be found by anyone. "Aye, I know," the blacksmith said as diplomatically as he could. "But would it be possible to ask around?"

"We don't want to disturb any of the travellers that come here. We depend on them for everything and we need the money and the goods they bring in," the chief stood up and spoke now.

Gobber sighed under his breath again. He was running out of options, and he had two other suggestions left, but he worked out quickly suggesting one of them was not going to work. In the end, the best he could do was ask something else. "Alright," the blacksmith triple amputee conceded, "I've given yer all a description of the boy. If yer could keep an eye and ear out, the Hairy Hooligan tribe will appreciate it."

The Nadder's Point chief inclined his head, though truthfully he had no idea if it was possible since people of every size came to his island and that description Gobber had given them was hardly likely to do them any real good since a hundred boys would match that picture.

The same thought had occurred to Gobber, and soon the blacksmith gave up. "Thanks anyway for seeing us, chief," the blacksmith said respectfully. "D'yer mind if me and my tribesmen visit your island?" he asked, hoping they could have a look anyway.

The Nadder's Point chief raised his bushy eyebrows at the question, fully aware for what the blacksmith had just asked, though he was astounded he even needed to ask, he knew he couldn't refuse. "Yeah, you can," he replied gruffly knowing he didn't have any right to deny them even if he was worried about what they might do if they found out the boy they were looking for was on his island. With that in mind, the chief stood up and let his massive frame block out a lot of the room's lighting.

The overall effect was designed to silence the tribe and to make the Hooligans realise he was meaning business though he felt deep down it was a tacky form of intimidation. Still, it made them pay attention, that was all that mattered really.

"I know yer want that boy back on yer island," the chief intoned seriously, casting his dark eyes dangerously at the teens to make sure they understood - one of the two boys listened to this seriously, as did one of the girls, a tall blonde with a hard expression as though chipped out of flint - while the other boy and the second girl looked like they were bored to tears, but it was only because of his stance they were not messing around, "but I don't care 'bout that. You mess around, cause problems, start fights when we've got merchants and travellers visiting this island every minute, and yer gonna pay for it. Understood?"

Gobber spoke for himself and the teens quickly before the young adults could pipe up - the Nadder's Point chief was getting the impression that aside from the teens who seemed more mature and serious, though the massive form of one of the boys was quivering slightly they weren't exactly the best Berk had to offer and he was reminded of the teens on Nadder's Point - "We understand, chief," the blacksmith said agreeably, knowing he didn't have much choice since there were many more of the Vikings here.

The chief grunted and waved a massive scarred arm. "Get outta ma sight!" he said.

The Hooligans walked out of the hall, and the chief beckoned on his council members close. "Release the description of that lad to the rest of the island," he ordered. "And have someone keep an eye on the Hooligans. I don't want any trouble."

"Yes, chief."

* * *

Unaware of the Nadder Point's chief's orders to his men, though truthfully had he known then he wouldn't have been completely surprised since their arrival could spell problems down the line for their island businesses, Gobber led his charges away. He stopped suddenly, making them stop in surprise but any protest was silenced by an intense stare directed at them by the elder Viking.

"A'right, listen up now," the blacksmith ordered sternly, his tone making it very clear to them he was only going to say this once. "We're gonna have a look 'round this island in case Hiccup's here. If yer see him, don't let it on. Don't chase 'im through the town. These folks will not realise what you're doing, and they will act accordingly. We don't want to get on their bad side."

Snotlout snorted. "C'mon Gobber, it's only Hiccup. What can he do?"

Gobber closed his eyes and counted to twenty in his mind. He had honestly asked himself if Stoick had finally lost his brain cells by having Snotlout and Ruffnut come with him. Okay, so they were old enough and eligible enough to venture out with other parties, but truthfully the old blacksmith was fed up with all of the teens, especially Snotlout and Ruffnut. Astrid usually kept herself to herself, throwing that stupid axe into the figurehead prow of the ship, and Fishlegs either read or spouted his dragon facts, though what made him read and re-read that book all the time Gobber didn't understand.

Reopening his eyes he sent a searing look at Snotlout. "Look here, boy," he growled, wishing he hadn't started because if he'd just ignored Snotlout then he wouldn't feel as though he were repeating himself, it was all he'd been doing now for a month. "We dunno what Hiccup is capable of, not now, not now he's got a dragon, and don't forget; he was the one who blew up not just our Kill Ring, but dozens more across the archipelago. If he is here, then we might be able to coax him back to Berk."

It amazed Gobber that while he was able to say all that, but he didn't believe it. Hiccup was not coming back to Berk, regardless of whatever stupid excuse Stoick was going to give him. Truthfully while Gobber would love for his apprentice to come back he didn't think it would be too safe. Stoick's protection would only go too far, and there would definitely be repercussions for what he'd done because there were still Vikings out there who believed the war was still going on, though truthfully Gobber had not heard anything about the dragons in the time since the last battle at the nest.

It was almost as though they'd vanished off the face of Midgard, except they were still sighted flying through the air around islands and shipping, though they flew without any interest whatsoever in the ships or the sailors, a far cry from when he was younger; in those days Viking ships would be lucky to even reach their destinations without being attacked from above by Nadders or Monstrous Nightmares, or boiled to death in a surprise attack by a Scauldron.

But he was going to at least try to find his former apprentice regardless of what these idiot teenagers thought.

Gobber looked at the teens, but then he decided that he didn't have anything he really wanted to say to them anymore, so he decided to just get on with it. "C'mon, let's go," he said, "and Thor help your souls if you try anything stupid."

* * *

Hiccup walked through the forest surrounding the hub towards the second boat he'd prepared to go out to the island where he'd left Toothless.

When he had arrived on the main island, he had found three ways to get to the tiny island he had hidden his dragon on, and although he usually used the same route, though the harbour, he actually had two other means of getting to Toothless without relying on the same route. He'd had plenty of time here to do it since he hadn't planned on leaving for a while so he could gather the supplies he'd need.

Still, it was better than running into the almost certain death he'd be facing if one of the Hooligans caught up with him. He only hoped that the Hooligans who were on the island already and probably mingling with the crowds didn't get it into their heads to look for him in the forest.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind for the moment, Hiccup just focused on getting out of the forest and to the boat.

When he finally arrived at the boat, he breathed in a sigh of relief and rushed down to it. The boat was moored on the bank of a fast moving river, moored in place by two ropes.

Grabbing hold of one of the ropes, Hiccup pulled the boat towards him, his muscles straining as he heaved it towards him. Once it was close enough, Hiccup jumped into the boat, and he slipped his dagger out and sliced through the ropes. Grabbing the oars, Hiccup began to row towards the island where Toothless was waiting for him.

It seemed to take forever for Hiccup to row out to the island, but when he arrived, he quickly grabbed his supplies and rushed towards the hiding place where Toothless was resting.

When he arrived he looked around to make sure he was the only human here.

"Toothless!" he called out.

The Night Fury suddenly appeared and rushed towards him. Hiccup held out his hands. "Whoa, calm down there!" he said before the overexcited Night Fury could pounce on him; he still had the bruises from where the dragon's paws had smacked the breath out of his lungs, he didn't want to go through the same thing again today.

The dragon looked like he was on the verge of pouting that his human friend didn't want to play, but Hiccup had to push aside his guilt quickly. "We haven't got any time, bud," he said quickly. "The Hooligans are here, not on this island," he added when the dragon reacted, "but we need to go. Now! Help me dig up the pits."

With Toothless' help, it was quicker for Hiccup to dig up the supplies. When everything was dug up, Hiccup went out and grabbed the saddlebags and he began to pack. The dragon watched his human for a moment and then, proving just how intelligent he was, he used his claws to hook the things he could, and he dragged them over to Hiccup.

The Viking boy was not surprised by his friend's intelligence. He had seen Toothless do things like that before many times, and with Toothless' help Hiccup managed to get everything in the saddlebags, mentally keeping note of the things he had and those he didn't. While the loss of some of the things he had bought and were left behind in his old apartment on Nadder's Point was annoying, he could not do anything about it now. He needed to get away from here before the Hooligans thought to come out to the island. He was just hoping that he could get away.

He had just finished slipping on the prosthetic, and he was just getting on the dragon's back when a growl from Toothless made him freeze and he turned around and found himself looking at the hard face of Astrid Hofferson, her axe was in her hand.

Hiccup chuckled at the irony, but there was no humour in it. "You Hooligans just don't know when to quit, do you Astrid?" he asked, hiding his irritation.

Astrid typically ignored his rhetorical question. "I'm here to take you back to Berk. It's time to stop running around like a child Hiccup."

Toothless growled, particularly when he caught sight of the axe in the blonde girl's hand. The dragon began pawing the ground, flaring his wings out in an aggressive stance, but he held back in case he harmed Hiccup.

Hiccup instantly rested a hand on the Night Fury's scaly back. He knew why the dragon was growling. He was agitated because of the weapon in Astrid's hand, but while he'd like to see just how Astrid's skills which had no doubt been augmented by dragon training and by the last few months where she had been doing Thor knew what could cope against Toothless, he didn't want to risk it.

"That's all you've got to say to me, six months down the line?" Hiccup said with a head shake while he walked slowly to the saddle while he ran a calming. "You know, I did often wonder what happened to you, but you know what I don't care anymore. Goodbye Astrid."

Instantly Astrid went into a combat stance he recognised and he stiffened, knowing one wrong move from either him or from Toothless and she could hurl that axe.

"You're not going anywhere!" Astrid snapped forcefully, a glint in her eyes he recognised from all the times he'd seen her roughhouse with the other teens, only when she had done it she had nearly broken Tuffnut's arm because she didn't realise it was only a game, though the adults in that Thor-be damned village didn't care, instead applauding her strength.

"You're going to come back with us to Berk, and there you will answer for your crimes." But as she said that, Hiccup could see that if things were different then she would love nothing more than to hurl that stupid axe at his head, her so-called duty to Berk be damned. He could see it in her eyes, the desire to kill him, hidden behind that cold facade of duty.

"I see, I must be a master villain," Hiccup tried to smile hoping to relieve the tension a little. It didn't work.

Astrid just glared at him, making him sigh. The problem with Astrid (One of them) was she didn't know when to lighten up.

"You're a traitor, not just to Viking-kind, but to your bloodline, to your father. And your mother. How could you? She was murdered by dragons," Astrid accused him.

Hiccup licked lips to mask his own anger. How dare this arrogant perfectionistic bitch call him a traitor when he hadn't been a Viking in his heart since the day he was born? How dare she bring up a bloodline he had no interest in, and how dare she mention that….. thing thing that had cared more for the tribe than for his own son.

But it was mention of his mother that made him want to snap her neck.

He was furious the girl would bring her up. He had known the Hooligans would be bemused by what he was doing, and some of them would be angry on his mothers' behalf he was riding a dragon.

But for Astrid to throw it in his face in her self-righteous manner like she knew how Valka felt, it made him angrier. But what really angered him was how she said it so matter of factly.

"I don't need a lesson in my own history, especially from you," Hiccup said evenly while he controlled his temper, knowing if he lost it nothing good would happen. Astrid was faster, stronger, and more violent than he was. He would not stand a chance even if Toothless was nearby. "But seriously, why are you following me? It's been six months."

Astrid's face was still set in anger. Hiccup had sometimes asked himself why Astrid had trained so hard to become a shield maiden when she could have effortlessly become a berserker instead. She had the temperament for it.

"Your father ordered us to bring you back, now enough of these games Hiccup. You're coming with me, but," Astrid's eyes started to drift away from Hiccup and over to the tense Toothless, and her voice likewise drifted away.

Hiccup stiffened with anger, knowing what she was about to do. But she was not fast enough.

The Night Fury instantly saw the threat and acted accordingly, and before Astrid even knew what was happening the dragon had reared back on his hind legs and fired a plasma burst. Astrid was blown off of her feet when the bust suddenly exploded, and she hit her head on the ground.

Hiccup rushed to the saddle and jumped onto the dragon's back while Astrid was still stunned.

The dragon instantly leapt into the air while Hiccup automatically worked on the tail-fin. When he took off, Hiccup risked a look back down and he groaned in annoyance when he saw the familiar forms of Snotlout and Ruffnut entering the clearing. He could hear them shouting up at him, but because he was so high he couldn't hear what they were saying.

He turned his back on them, and on his former life.

* * *

Gobber was furious when he heard what had happened, and he felt little to no pity for Astrid when he found out how she had gotten that ugly mark on her forehead.

He had heard about what had happened. He had listened silently after Ruffnut and Snotlout brought the half-conscious Astrid back to the main island on Nadder's Point. He had heard from the teenagers how they'd grabbed a boat, and they'd taken it out to the smaller islands nearby to see if Hiccup had hidden his dragon on any of them and had simply commuted to and from work each day if he was here.

He had heard a story that seemed too vague for his liking, and it had made him wonder just what the teenagers were leaving out. He wasn't going to pry.

Stoick could get the truth and the answers out of the teenagers and from Astrid. He had just about had enough of the teenagers recently.

But really frustrated and annoyed the old Viking was how the teenagers, instead of trying to contact him to let him know what they were doing instead of making him wait and worry for what seemed like a week, they had gone off on their own.

Okay, he couldn't really see what else they could have done.

He and the others who'd searched the island had quickly realised that Hiccup was not around. They had searched everywhere - they had visited the shops, the stalls, the boats, the halls, the houses, even the bakery. But there had been no sign of the boy, but the blacksmith's forge was the more hopeful sign Hiccup was around. Gobber himself had visited the local blacksmith, knowing more than anybody else just how good Hiccup was with his hands and he had the skills to really impress another blacksmith, and he'd learnt of a boy who answered Hiccup's description, so that was good news.

What made it even better was the boy was still around, so there was some hope, but now thanks to Astrid and the teenagers' impulsive stupidity, the boy was gone.

"I told you. Didn't I tell yer, if yer see Hiccup, call for help and just watch him!"

"He was getting away!"

Gobber closed his eyes, angry with the girl for pointing something out so logically at him. He took refuge at another point. "Why didn't you send Ruffnut or Snotlout to come after me, or one of the others?" he asked.

"There wasn't any time-," the girl tried to say.

But Gobber had a good idea what Astrid had done. "You mean you couldn't be asked?" he snapped, waving his hook attachment around to shut her up. "What made yer go to that island in the first place?"

On surer ground but angry with how she was being disrespected, Astrid stiffened to attention. But Gobber could see the anger in her eyes. Something about that anger made him wary despite having seen it in many a Viking's eyes over the years, and it made him make a mental note to keep an eye on the girl in case she tried to do something insanely stupid.

"It was just a look," she said, "I wasn't expecting to find Hiccup there, but if he was then he'd have hidden that beast on that island."

Gobber groaned mentally, wishing the girl had the sense to tell him what she was planning. Now he would have to go on looking for Hiccup, but the boy would be more vigilant this time. It could be a while before they returned to Berk.

* * *

Until next time. I'm going to be busy over the December period with a new job, so I might be able to update around Christmas Eve-Christmas Day. Until then, bye for now.


	6. Chapter 6 Confrontations on Berk

To jimster3644 - Thanks for the review, but truthfully if you don't like my stories, please do not read them. I write the way I like, and there are far more authors out there who write much more than I do. I have to congratulate you. For someone who claims, on their own profile page no less, to laze around and has never written a story before, your review is quite bold.

To all of you, I apologise. I had to get that out of the way to make it clear I don't tolerate attacks on my stories. I write the way I do because it allows me to get a lot across. I am also grateful for your patience. I have spent the last month or so writing various chapters and new ones for different fandoms for Christmas.

This and other chapters like this are my Christmas presents for all of you.

Merry Christmas all!

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

Stoick was thankful to be back on his island. It had been a long month, going from one island to the next, while he tried to follow up the rumours and sightings of his son and that beast of his. The chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe had been surprised when he went out into the archipelago to see if any of the other tribes had sighted Hiccup, because many of them had reported sighting the boy and the Night Fury.

Reports from merchants and travellers and fishermen alike described seeing Hiccup on the distinctive dragons' back, flying in different directions while staying out of range of the catapults and bolas every ship in Viking territorial waters carried as part of their usual gear to protect them from any dragon attack; the war may be over, but the long years of fighting and hating dragons was still prevalent in Viking culture, and it wasn't going to go away.

Stoick was just relieved to be back on his island. He had needed quite a bit of his political acumen to make sure everyone knew Hiccups' actions were not reflected on his own tribe, so then the other Vikings in the archipelago didn't take it the way he had. If a kid from one of the tribes flew a dragon and destroyed his own Kill Ring, he would take that as an attack. Viking politics were fickle, and in many ways, a brutal practice. Stoick was a long-term veteran of many battles speaking and yelling at the various chiefs of the different tribes as he was a dragon slayer.

Fortunately, he had proof to back up his claims he had nothing to do with the Kill Ring destruction taking place.

Stoick had invited many of the tribal chiefs to Berk so then they could see the damage to the Kill Ring. Keeping the Ring clear of any damage so then everyone could see the place as it was found was difficult, but it was one of Gobbers' better ideas when the blacksmith realised the dramatic mess of the arena would persuade the other chiefs he was being sincere, since a tidy Kill Ring would make it look fake.

Stoick had jumped on the idea immediately because he didn't want Berk to have every tribe as an enemy. That was the last thing he needed on top of everything else.

Unfortunately, not every chief believed him but luckily some of the more level-headed chiefs listened to the story of what had happened on the island with the dragon nest. Stoick was just relieved none of his people had made the stupid mistake of exaggerating it or making Hiccup out to be the villain of the piece, no matter what he was doing out there.

When his ship neared Berks' harbour, Stoick stood up straight and stretched, wincing as he did, cursing his current age. He was a strong and powerful Viking, and although he had nearly failed dragon training because of his impulsive attitude which changed when his mother was killed and he had nearly been killed himself, making him take the war more seriously, he was not immune to old age.

The dragon war and the never-ending chaos caused by the raids and the frequent hunts for the nest had aged him badly, and now with what was going on…. the political shifts of the tribes, the vacuum caused by the dragons losing that big one, trying to find Hiccup to make amends… Stoick wondered how long he had before something happened to him.

Stoick was starting to see there were fewer days ahead than there were behind, but truthfully when he looked back on his life he began to see he had accomplished very little, much like his own father who had lived like he had, always trying to hold the tribe together while keeping the dragons at bay.

Stoick didn't have a chance to dwell on the thought when he noticed that Gobbers' own ship was moored at the dock. The chief wondered how the blacksmith had gotten on; he had sent Gobber out around the islands near Nadder's Point to see if Hiccup had been seen around there, since Gobber had told him Hiccup had grown up with an interest of visiting other places, and indeed Hiccup had always been disappointed whenever Stoick had left to attend inter-tribal meetings in the past.

With a dragon, it wouldn't be difficult for Hiccup to visit those places now. In fact, with a dragon, it would be easier to visit new lands and places since dragons were much faster than boats or ships.

But what was Gobber doing here so soon? The blacksmith shouldn't be back so quickly.

One of the Viking crew members threw a rope to moor the ship to the dock, and with practiced ease, though he did it slowly because his limbs ached, Stoick jumped onto the dock with a light groan. "I'm gettin' too old for this," he whispered to himself as he straightened up and was instantly ashamed when he spotted Gobber hobbling over to him. If he was having problems leaping onto the dock, Thor alone knew how the hell Gobber was able to manage it.

"Gobber," he greeted, holding out his hand to grasp the blacksmiths' only remaining flesh and blood hand. He was always amazed by the amount of strength in Gobbers' arm, which was a result of pounding and lifting metal, and the thoughts of disappointment he still possessed that Hiccup had never become stronger out of his apprentice job at the forge resurfaced. Stoick immediately shoved them aside. "Wha' happened? Why're yer back so soon?"

Gobber's scowl told him it was not good news. "Tha' next time yer send me off ta look for Hiccup, don't make the teens come with me."

Stoick closed his eyes, already feeling a headache coming along. He had come to realise the teenagers were more of a headache than Hiccup had ever been, especially Astrid. While she was a great Viking in the making, Stoick honestly didn't like the way the girl lost her temper so frequently since Shield Maidens were meant to be more controlled than that. Astrid was a professional warrior, which was commendable considering how young she was, but she needed to work on her attitude and calm down. Anger on a battlefield was a great weapon in the right circumstances, but in times of peace or during missions it could mean the difference between life and death.

"Wha' happened?" he demanded, his tone a low, long-suffering whisper. His head was aching too much for him to start shouting his head off, and to be honest he was too tired to muster the effort to scream.

"We found Hiccup, or rather Astrid, Snotlout and Ruffnut found Hiccup on one of the islands near Nadders' point; the main island is surrounded by small islands. Anyway, the teens found Hiccup on one of the islands with his dragon."

"Where is Hiccup now?"

Gobber sighed. "Astrid, for reasons I don't get, decided to go out to look for Hiccup without bothering ta tell me," he growled, "I told 'em if they saw him, they were to keep watch on hi and come tell me. Instead, they must've attacked him."

Stoick closed his eyes and growled under his breath, cursing the current generations' stupidity. He opened his eyes again. "What was he doin' on Nadder's point anyway?"

"I found out he was working at the islands' forge. The blacksmith there told me he had arrived a short time before, hoping to get some money while he was working on his own projects. The blacksmith didn't know what he was making, but I reckon Hiccup was working on the prosthetic tail-fin of his Night Fury. That's not all; I asked around the town and found out he was frequently speaking to travellers and merchants, hoping to find out what was beyond the archipelago. He was also buying maps. I asked the sellers at the market."

Stoick stiffened. It sounded like Hiccup was trying to work out the best way to leave the archipelago. Time was running out. He needed to find the boy quickly before someone like Alvin caught him.

"I also found out where Hiccup was stayin' on the island," Gobber went on, "he must have seen us arrive and escaped before Astrid and those other stupid teens could capture him on the island; he must have left in a hurry, 'cause there were still things there on the bed. I brought some of it back to Berk. There're in yer house."

Stoick nodded, though he wondered if Gobber had brought them to him to stuff in Hiccups' former bedroom where he kept everything the boy had made and done over the years, he didn't care.

He had another thought on his mind. "What I don't get is this, what the hell was Astrid and the teens thinking? Surely they knew I wanted ma' son back?"

Gobber sighed. "I dunno, Stoick. I dunno what Snotlout and Ruffnut were thinking, or even if they were thinking at all. But Astrid….," the blacksmith said, shaking his head. "I dunno Stoick, there's somethin' about that girl that worries me."

"What d'ye mean?" Stoick asked.

"Astrid has a wicked temper. During the trip we took, Astrid kept throwing that stupid axe at the ship, but I could hear her muttering under her breath. I think she's angry with Hiccup for destroying tha' nest and killing that big dragon."

Stoick nodded as he realised that the problem was. "She's jealous," he proclaimed as they walked along the dock. "She's jealous 'cause Hiccup not only managed to end the war so effortlessly while she spent much of her time training to be a good fighter, but he didn't really need ta' do anything."

"I don't think that's' how it happened, Stoick," Gobber pointed out as he hobbled along the uneven wooden planking. "It would've taken 'im ages to work on training that Night Fury; I doubt that dragon just stood there while he made tha' prosthetic, and he would need ta' build some kinda trust between him and the dragon. It probably took 'im a while. But," the blacksmith went on as they continued with their more pressing topic, "I am worried 'bout what Astrid might do later."

"Why d'yer say that?"

"Ta' be honest, I think she has her own plans where Hiccup's concerned, but she refused to give me the details."

Stoick growled. "Where is she now?" he asked.

* * *

Astrid yelled as she threw her axe against the trees of her favourite training spot. Each tree had deep cuts which were a testament to how many times she had visited the spot and practiced with her favourite weapon of choice since with an axe you didn't really need a sparring partner after you'd gotten the basics right.

The shieldmaiden didn't like working with others. It was hard to find people her own age who not only was at her level but also had her fierce devotion to ending the war. The other teenagers her age were idiots; the twins, while vicious, were also too stupid and slow on the uptake, Snotlout was a bragger who didn't take anything seriously, and Fishlegs was an oversized version of Hiccup.

Hiccup….

Astrid growled as she ripped the axe free of the tight cut it had made in the tree before she backed away and prepared herself for another throw, adjusting her stance accordingly. She hurled the axe at the tree again, throwing it with her anger-enhanced strength. Just thinking about the runt was enough to piss her off. Unknown to Astrid, Stoick was not wrong; she was jealous of the boy who had once been her friend, though, in truth she had never understood him when she had been a child, he had been a better friend than the other teenagers. But Astrid had spent the best part of her life preparing herself, training nearly every day and every single night to be the best, becoming stronger with each day so then she could become one of the best shield maidens in Berks history.

She had worked so hard, and what had happened?

A pathetic runt like Hiccup should not have defeated the dragons once and for all, ending the war. That honour should have gone to a proper Viking, someone like her. Preferably her. Not a boasting moron like Snotlout, or a thick idiot like one of the twins, and definitely not to an oversized chatterbox like Fishlegs, who wasted his time reading about dragons instead of practicing on how to kill the beasts. After all, what was the point of learning how to kill dragons if you didn't use it?

That was not all. Hiccup had learnt how to fly a dragon. When she had discovered the runt with the dragon, she had immediately seen an opportunity for herself. Although he hadn't excelled in dragon training, Astrid had always seen Hiccup as the potential rival (the other teenagers were too in to themselves, too boastful or stupid to really be rivals), and that was one of the reasons why she had made it virtually impossible for him to truly excel in the arena. Not that he did. Hiccup didn't seem to care about the training. He participated and he ducked and wove out of the way of the various dragons Gobber let out, but he didn't actually get involved besides just doing the minimum.

Astrid had been disgusted with the boy for his lack of participation, so she hadn't bothered with her plan to make life difficult for him during training once she'd worked out he was not going to do anything she or some of the other teens were doing. She'd had it all worked out. She would trip him up, knock him out of the way, set up little accidents as the training went along so then he was out of the running for the final exam where the Monstrous Nightmare would be killed. Astrid had planned long and hard to kill that dangerous monster, and she wasn't going to let anyone take it from her, not Snotlout and definitely not a runt like Hiccup. The Monstrous Nightmare was for her, and her alone. No-one else. A true Viking should have that honour.

But she didn't need to bother. Hiccup simply wasn't interested in the training. Why she could not comprehend. She saw him as a coward for refusing to do his part in the war which had been fought for centuries, and which his own mother was a casualty.

It had entered her mind Hiccup was not interested because he was deliberately trying to spite his father. It was an open secret Hiccup and Stoick did not get along, but then that was true with many of the children on the island since the parents needed to be harsh with their children in order to forge them into weapons to fight against their enemies.

Astrid believed in that philosophy. Indeed, she had promised herself any children she had would be taught how to be unfeeling against the weak, taught only the strongest survived.

She also believed strongly that only the strongest survived in any war. You were not likely to win by being soft. But in truth when it came to Hiccup, Astrid was not sympathetic. If anyone deserved a beating it was him, and no-one could dispute that. Astrid would never forget the damage her former friend had caused with those stupid inventions. What did he expect when they had gone wrong?

Astrid stomped over to the tree and with all her strength, she ripped the blade from the tree trunk, checking the metal to see if it was damaged in any way. She didn't want to go anywhere near the forge. She'd had enough of Gobber. She was tired of his stupid stories which he had told and repeated endlessly, again and again, exaggerated each time so then they weren't boring or because the older Viking was losing his mind, but she didn't care. But on the way back, she had noticed his frowns in her direction as they returned to Berk.

Astrid began to wonder if Gobber had worked out her reasons for going out alone to find Hiccup. Astrid was a soldier, a shield maiden, trained to be a warrior. Her reasons for training so hard was to become a warrior, to lift the cloud that had been drawn over her family when her uncle was frozen to death in terror of that weird dragon years ago, but also so then she could end the war. Astrid had dreamt many times over the years of single-handedly ending the war, but now all of those dreams were thrown off the cliff thanks to Hiccup.

Ordinarily, she wouldn't have cared or given much thought about Stoick's orders if they were bizarre, but truthfully Astrid didn't care if the chief wanted his son back. She wanted to kill him and that beast and finally reclaim the lost honour her family had lost.

Astrid flung her arm out while holding onto the axe to hurl it again when she heard someone behind her. "Astrid, I wanna have a word with you," Stoick's deep rumble said.

The young shield-maiden went stiff, surprised the large Viking had managed to creep up behind her. Either she had not been paying attention to Stoicks' lumbering stride, or he was quieter than she'd thought. Turning around, Astrid took a moment to study the chief. He looked haggard and fed up, and it was bleeding into the way she was being looked at. Stoick was looking at her with a serious ferocity that put her in mind of how he had been during the war.

"Chief," Astrid greeted without giving anything away.

"I want to know wha' happened at Nadders' point, Astrid," Stoick began without preamble or subtlety. He was too tired to care about leading the discussion to where he wanted it to be. "Gobber told me yer left 'im on the main island and went off with Snotlout and Ruffnut to track Hiccup down, WITHOUT telling 'im," Stoick growled out, emphasising the without with none of his deep accent.

Astrid wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand, she was furious Gobber had told the chief about what had happened, though really she'd expected it for a long time since Hiccup escaped her when she'd cornered him and his beast. But on the other, she was nervous about what Stoick might do. She was young and strong with youth on her side, but Stoick had experience, so if it came down to a fight between them both, Astrid was certain she would lose.

But she wasn't going to go that far. She genuinely respected Stoick even if she saw many of his decisions in the last few months as questionable.

"I was going to tell Gobber, chief," Astrid said, hoping the chief didn't see through her lie. She had not planned on telling the blacksmith anything about her plans. The only reason he'd found out was that she was still too dazed from her minor injury at Nadders' point. "But there wasn't any time. Hiccup could have been on any of those islands, and he must have known we were there. By the time I told him, it would have been too late for Gobber to do anything."

Stoick eyed the girl, wondering if she was being sincere. When he had heard she was in this part of the island which she had taken for herself to practice her axe hurling, Stoick had taken in her stance. The girl was too angry, she was hurling her axe without any regard to her own safety or taking notice of anything nearby. That worried him because the girl was more alert than that. He was starting to wonder if her little tale was indeed sincere. The girl's temper was beginning to worry him more, and it made him worry about what she might do if her temper got the better of her one day.

"Yer had two friends wi' you, Astrid," Stoick bluntly pointed out. "Yer could've sent one of 'em off, or both of 'em, and they'd have told Gobber. Anything could've happened, Astrid. Yer could've been injured, and Gobber would never have known about it. What would have happened then, did you stop to think about that?"

"It was Hiccup, chief," Astrid stated like the fact it was Hiccup meant she would never have been hurt, inwardly she cringed since she was essentially channelling Snotlout. "He wouldn't have raised a finger to hurt me."

Stoick raised a bushy eyebrow, wondering if this girl realised just how stupid that comment was. "Yet yer were injured, Astrid," Stoick pointed out without any kind of hesitation; he wasn't going to allow this girl to think that just because she trained and worked hard, things could just be ignored. "And it could've been serious. Very serious. Yer not leavin' this island again for a while; yer actions not just endangered your own life, but you also dragged two others with yer. Wi' that Night Fury o' his, Hiccup could have done a lot of damage ta all of yer. From now on, Astrid, the next time someone tells yer to do something, yer do it!"

Stoick turned and walked away, leaving the girl to her own thoughts. But as he left, he heard the familiar shriek of rage coming from the girl.

Gobbers' concerns about the lass had just been confirmed though Stoick had already gathered as much by the time he'd made up his mind about what was going to happen now with her. Astrid did have her own agenda where Hiccup was concerned, and Stoick did not like it.

Meeting up again with Gobber, Stoick went into his house to see the collection of objects Hiccup had been preparing on taking with him. They were waiting for him on the kitchen table. Gobber had just piled the lot on the table without bothering to put them into any semblance of order.

Stoick used his fingers to move everything around the table to take it all in, and as he did he saw a small number of journals similar to the ones Hiccup had used when he had lived on the island. There were also a number of leather rolls neatly wrapped up to make them as small as possible for easier packing, and there was a small selection of warm clothing and materials needed to make them.

"He was obviously using Nadders' Point to collect as many supplies as he could," Stoick said, but truthfully it was stating the obvious. The problem was he had no idea what else to say.

Gobber nodded. The blacksmith had reached the conclusion himself when it was confirmed by the Nadders' Point blacksmith Hiccup had worked in his forge for some time.

Stoick picked up a strange metal object. It was some kind of pulley, but it was quite lightweight. He turned it over in his hand and looked curiously over at Gobber. "Wha's this?"

"I dunno, but I think it's part of the prosthetic Hiccup rigged up for that dragon," the blacksmith replied, "there weren't that many pieces when I took a look in the room Hiccup rented on the island. Don't ask me how it works, I haven't a clue."

"Did yer find anything else?"

"Well, I went over to the smaller island to see for ma self where the Night Fury was being hidden. There were little holes in the ground. Hiccup must've dug 'em to keep everything safe and secure in case anyone went there by chance."

Stoick closed his eyes and reopened them again. He was trying to think about what his sons' next move might be now, but he couldn't work it out. "Yer said when I got back Hiccup had spoken to the merchants and travellers and collected maps. D'we know where he might go next?"

"No. The Nadders' Point chief questioned the merchants and the market sellers who had frequent contact wi' Hiccup. They remember him being extremely selective about the maps, saying he favoured buying small maps but ones which were extremely accurate and detailed. When we found out he was on Nadders' Point, we met a merchant whose route takes him beyond our waters to the east and close to Gaul. He said Hiccup had been asking him questions and making notes in a journal. A few more travellers told me the same thing; Hiccup would speak to them, make notes, and that was it."

"What kind o' notes?"

"They not in any o' these journals. I checked," Gobber said, "but from what the merchants and travellers described, Hiccup was interested in the things they had seen and what was out there."

Stoick nodded, more than aware of how curious Hiccup was about other lands even if he had never actually realised just how much. He wished he had some of those notes, that way he might get an idea of what his son was planning to do, but it was not meant to be. It was almost as though Loki himself were helping the boy with his escape. He shook his head.

"I spoke to Astrid," he said, changing the subject. "She said she was gonna speak ta' yer before she headed out ta' that island, but she was hurling that axe o' hers too hard when I found her. I worry she wasn't tellin' me the truth."

Gobber was in no doubt. "I don't think that girl had any intention whatsoever with comin' to get me, Stoick. I think she deliberately disobeyed my orders, whether 'cause she thinks that just because she's one of the best of the current generation o' warriors among our tribe, or because she is arrogant, I dunno. As I said, she has an agenda where Hiccup is concerned."

Stoick frowned, not liking where this conversation was leading. He wanted Hiccup back on Berk with the tribe where he belonged. He was the heir of the Hairy Hooligans. In truth, Stoick would've liked Hiccup to come back on his own, and that way they might be able to heal the wounds but because of his decision to actively hunt him down, the boy was making it increasingly harder for anyone to find him.

In an ideal scenario, Hiccup would return on his own without that beast of his controlling him, and he could settle down and marry a girl like Astrid and cement his place among the tribe. But after seeing Astrids' display and hearing the way she'd yelled in rage as he'd left, he worried for anyone who tried to court her.

"I've got an idea of what that agenda is, Gobber," Stoick said grimly, hoping desperately he was wrong. But one look at his old friend told him that the same thought had occurred to Gobber as well. Astrid wanted to kill Hiccup. "What I can't work out is why," Stoick went on.

"Well, the Hoffersons lost a lot of their prestige when Finn froze in horror when he faced that dragon," Gobber said, "and Astrid did become obsessed to the point of madness to train up to become the best."

Stoick hated being reminded of what he had needed to do, as a Viking chief, to the Hofferson clan. A clan who was one of the most loyal and the strongest of all, barring his own and several others. But he knew what Finns' disgrace had done to them, and what kind of pressure they'd put on Astrid as a result. The chief had witnessed first-hand how Astrid had trained long and hard, knew how far she had pushed herself to be the best so then she could slaughter as many dragons as she could before she herself died during the war. But now the war was over, Astrid must really hate Hiccup for taking those opportunities for greatness away.

He told Gobber as much before he added, "I've also barred her from leaving Berk to go after Hiccup."

"I hope that works, Stoick, or else we may have a problem," Gobber said grimly. Stoick wondered what his friend meant, but the blacksmith was closed off.

* * *

Hiccup blew out a breath as he finished digging the trap with Toothless' help. He climbed up the rope ladder and when he reached the top he brushed off the mud and soil from his hands and turned to Toothless who was looking at him with interest. "C'mon bud, push those logs into the hole," he said to the dragon, who obediently pushed the sharpened logs into the hole. Hiccup looked down at them and sighed again, knowing he'd have to climb back down there when he had already climbed out, but when he'd climbed out he had been trying to get out of the way so then one of those logs wouldn't crack his skull open.

Climbing back down the rope ladder, Hiccup slowly moved one of the logs into a point in the pit, and with a hammer, he'd acquired from Nadders' Point and began to hammer the sharply pointed log he had spent the day before cutting down and sharpening each one into a point. The logs weren't that large nor were they too heavy for him to lift, but the hard part was hammering them into the ground.

After another hour he was finished with that part of the trap, and he climbed back up the ladder and with Toothless' help he moved the grille in large and covered it with a layer of leaves before he shovelled dirt over them before covering them with more layers of leaves.

The trap was basic but it was effective. Hiccup had seen the hunters of Berk dig similar traps in order to catch plenty of game over a large period between raids without needing to expend hours and hours wasting time relying on just hunting one animal when the entire village needed feeding, but those traps were enormous and covered a large area, but this one was much smaller.

Hiccup walked away from the trap, ignoring the small pile of moss-covered rocks that was near the trap. He ignored them because he had placed them there, but the island was full of them, just like any other island in the archipelago.

It had been only two short weeks since he had left Nadders' Point after that confrontation with Astrid, and in that time, he'd travelled to a few more islands before he'd decided to settle on this little island for a short amount of time so then he could plan his next move. Hiccup had originally planned to just leave Nadders' Point and free as many dragons still being held in captivity by the various Vikings out there, and give them a chance for some real freedom, but…. He just wasn't sure. He had the feeling that he was tired of travelling endlessly, sleeping on one island after another without giving himself the chance to properly see it with Toothless before moving on with his quest. He still wanted to free the dragons and stop the Vikings from their endless quest for genocide.

His resolve was just as strong as it had been when he'd visited Nadders' Point and it was just strengthened when he had seen Astrid again.

Hiccup shook his head and snorted when he thought about Astrid. He should have known Astrid would never have passed the opportunity away to make him pay for "stealing her honour" by winning the war, but truthfully he found he couldn't begin to care about her feelings about what had happened with the war. It wasn't his problem. In fact, if he knew Astrid, she was probably hacking trees again with that stupid axe of hers, yelling for the gods to hear and give her the chance the hunt him down and hack him to pieces.

Stupid bitch.

Hiccup wasn't stupid. He knew why Astrid was so determined to get to him, and it had nothing to do with his father either. She had wanted to take him back to Berk so then she could deal with him on her own terms. It wasn't likely to happen, of course. For instance, Toothless was with him, but there was a huge distance between him and Berk now. Even Astrid with her blowhard manner couldn't bridge that gulf.

For the next few weeks, Hiccup took the time to properly explore the island (And fly Toothless whenever the Night Fury became a bit too restless, but he always made sure to ride the dragon at night; the island he was on may have been remote, but he didn't want to take any more unnecessary risks), but there weren't any dragons on the island like there were on others. It seemed even the dragons found this part of the archipelago to be uninteresting and unimportant.

After he'd finished exploring the island and with it as his temporary base of operations, Hiccup took Toothless out on a flight, for the first time it was during sunset. They began to make a habit of that, leaving at sunset and flying above the clouds in order to enjoy the skies above the island before it grew dark.

As they flew through the air, Hiccup patted his dragons' head. "Are you okay with travelling with me, Toothless?" he asked, before he began babbling his head off. "I mean, are you okay flying a tiny, reckless dragon lover like me around?"

The dragon crooned and sent him a look through narrowed eyes, the expression saying "Are you joking?" and Hiccup chuckled. "Sorry, bud. It's just…. I wondered if you'd prefer staying around here-hold on, what's that down there?"

Toothless' head moved back around so fast Hiccup thought for a minute the dragons' neck would break from the movement, but the dragon growled and his ear plates flattened as he took in what was below. Night had just fallen and they could see the running lights of a few ships on the sea, dangerously close to their island.

Hiccup watched them suspiciously, noting just how close they were to the island, and he wondered just how close they had actually gone to it. If they had just come for water and some basic provisions he wouldn't be worried, but he hoped they hadn't gone anywhere near the part of the island he and Toothless had taken as their own. If they'd found the camp, then who knew what might be missing?

"Toothless," he whispered at the Night Fury, "take us down….slowly. And whatever you do, don't whistle!"

The Night Fury gave him a look that seemed sulky as if annoyed his friend and rider believed he would be so stupid to give himself away, but he obediently took them down with Hiccup automatically working on the tail-fin in order to guide them in. The moment the dragon and his rider touched down, they both saw for themselves the campsite had been gutted.

"No!" Hiccup snarled in anger, and he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He'd been afraid of this, of somehow by chance someone would stumble on his island, and since he had basically poked a stick in the dragon nest and drawn attention to himself, nearly every tribe was after him for his secrets or for his head - it didn't matter which since what came first…

For ten minutes, Hiccup and Toothless went through the camp, mentally reviewing what those ships had taken from the camp. When he had finished, Hiccup jumped back onto Toothless and tied himself back into the harness. Once he was ready, Hiccup drew on the enlarged wooden handles wrapped in soft fur he'd used to replace the old ones for longer journeys.

"C'mon, bud," he growled, hoping he didn't subconsciously channel his father, "we've got a hunt to take care of."

With that, Hiccup and Toothless leapt into the air and flew after the ships.

* * *

Please tell me what you think.

Happy Christmas.


	7. Chapter 7 The First Turning Point

The second chapter of my Christmas double-bill.

Please tell me what you think. This is one of the turning points in Hiccups' life.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

As he flew on Toothless after the ship, Hiccup was trying to work out what he was going to do to get the supplies back. He knew it wasn't going to be easy to do it. The people on those ships, he had no idea if they were pirates, mercenaries, or just a group from a tribe who had simply run down on their own supplies, but either way, he knew diplomacy was not going to work.

But what truly bothered him was how they'd stumbled upon his little island, but after a few ideas, he simply pushed the problem aside as he tried to work out what he was going to do.

In the end, Hiccup decided to scare them into giving the supplies they'd taken from him back. It wouldn't be difficult. Toothless was a Night Fury and although Hiccup hadn't yet seen all of what his dragon friend could do, only an idiot would try to attack Toothless.

With that in mind, Hiccup leaned over the Night Fury's scaly body and spoke to him. "Okay bud," he said clearly even as they flew incredibly fast, "I want you to make that whistle as we get closer. Can you dive-bomb those ships and fire a couple of plasma bursts into the sea to shock them?"

Toothless warbled in agreement as he mulled the strategy over in his mind. Knowing the warble was an affirmative, Hiccup smiled and patted the dragon on the back of the neck gently. "Atta boy," he said.

Hiccup had made the strategy just in time because Toothless had arrived at the ships within seconds of him making it. Toothless rose high into the air before he dive-bombed the ships, and he began emitting the high-pitched whistle. The wind whipped into Hiccups' face and body, pushing into his frail body with the force of a shove.

If it wasn't for his body harness clipped into place on Toothless' own harness, Hiccup didn't doubt for a second he wouldn't be shoved off of the dragons' back. Grimacing as the drag pushed against his body, Hiccup bent down and wrapped his arms and body against Toothless' back. He closed his eyes until they squinted as the air made it difficult for him to focus properly. The high-pitched whistle from Toothless didn't frighten him as much as it had in the past, but it still sent chills down his back in a primal way.

Through his squinting eyes, he saw Toothless close in on the ships and fired the bursts of fire at the ships but making sure he missed before the dragon finally levelled off, dimly aware of the panicked shouting from the ships (Hiccup knew he was never going to do this type of flying again since it was too uncomfortable) and flew around the ships. Once he'd fully recovered, Hiccup guided Toothless as close to one of the ships as he could.

On the deck, he could see the massive hulking forms of the crew as they rushed trying to get ready for a fight. Many of them had noticed by now Toothless was flying close to their ships, but just out of range of the anti-dragon weapons each ship carried in the archipelago. The sight of the legendary Night Fury scared them, but some of them were keeping very still.

They reminded Hiccup of animals he had seen out in the forest of Berk when confronted with a predator. They would either freeze and hope they would not be eaten, or they would run.

"Give my supplies back!" Hiccup shouted as loud as he could, and it made him realise he should have brought something he could've used to make his voice louder.

On the deck of the ship, Hiccup watched as his voice carried to the nearby ship. The crew had been fairly quiet once the panic had died down, but when he shouted it jolted them with a start.

Finally, someone on the deck shouted out. "Who said that?"

Hiccup took a deep breath and lifted his head, knowing as soon as he did the Vikings on those ships would become hostile. "I did," he said as he lifted himself up. "You took my supplies. Give them back!"

Hiccup was expecting many reactions from the crews. He got them. "TRAITOR!" one of them shouted. Hiccup sighed. Vikings, they were so predictable.

"Heathen scum!"

"As if we'll give yer supplies back! Yer don't deserve 'em!"

The insults kept flying towards Hiccup until Toothless finally lost his patience with them. The dragon wanted action, and he wanted it now, though Toothless was willing to try Hiccups' method of diplomacy which was basically scaring them all to death so then they handed over what they wanted. But for that to happen they needed a little incentive. The Night Fury screeched and everyone shut up, and Hiccup leaned forward as menacingly as he could, hoping that the dim light hid his features since he knew he wasn't the most threatening looking person out there.

"Give me my supplies back, or I'll take them back myself!" Hiccup shouted, hoping that they were sensible enough to realise he held all of the cards on this one. It wasn't meant to be.

Hiccup would never know if someone decided to just take the initiative, was just tired of him, or was genuinely frightened of Toothless. But all he knew was there was a distant snap of a crossbow being fired and then he felt a terrible pain in his arm. The surprising impact of the crossbow bolt made him scream in pain.

The sudden scream agitated Toothless, and without Hiccup holding him back, the Night Fury flew into a terrible rage. The dragon screeched in fury, his ear plates flattened against his head and the back of his neck as he flew about higher in the air. Hiccup was more than aware of his dragon firing plasma bursts at the ships, but he was in too much pain and too desperate to remove the bolt from his arm to really do anything. It was virtually impossible as each move from Toothless made it difficult for him to pull the damn thing out!

Meanwhile, the Night Fury was too busy to pay attention to his rider though Hiccups' wellbeing was on the top of his priorities. The Night Fury was firing indiscriminately at the ships. The plasma bursts either set the ships on fire, or they simply blasted the wooden hulls to splinters. Hiccup barely noticed as he tried to pull the bolt out of his arm, grinding his teeth together until he was sure he'd be getting lockjaw on top of getting his arm skewered. Finally, with a harsh wrench and a stifled scream of pain, Hiccup was able to pull the bolt from his arm, slapping his hand to his arm, feeling it get slick with blood instantly while squeezing the wound to stop the bleeding and only getting more pain for his troubles.

Hiccup, hissing with pain and his head spinning from the way Toothless was flying around, looked down at the sight of the destroyed ships without much sympathy. While he was upset the supplies he had stored on the small island were probably lost, he wasn't very sympathetic towards the Vikings. In the dim lighting from the night sky and from the ships that were stubbornly clinging to the surface while they were on fire, Hiccup could see some of the Vikings on the surface still.

In the dim lighting, Hiccup saw something floating in the water. It was one of the small baskets wrapped in greased leather to keep it dry inside he'd had at the camp. Quickly retaking control of Toothless, Hiccup guided the dragon down, making sure Toothless saw the basket bobbing in the water, and the dragon snatched it up. It was a pity really, that this was the only thing he had to show for this latest mess he'd gotten himself into, but as Toothless dived down to snatch the basket from the water, Hiccup knew it hadn't been a complete waste of time.

The moment Toothless' wings beat the air to get higher and higher into the air, Hiccup winced at the pain in his arm. He ignored the insults shouted at him from the surviving Vikings even as the Night Fury flew higher into the air. He was done with the constant insults thrown at him, and as he flew back to the island, his arm now suddenly numb, Hiccup had only one desire. To get back to the camp and to tend to his injury before he packed up and escaped from the island.

There was no doubt in his mind whatsoever the survivors of that little fleet would head for the island. They had no-where else to go. There was enough fresh food and water there available on the island and they knew it, and there was enough wood there for them to build a ship or a raft to escape and carry on to wherever they were going for. Hiccup didn't care about them, and as they flew away from the wreckage he looked down at the sea, but the shock and the blood loss he'd suffered made him momentarily dizzy.

He almost fell off of Toothless' back, but Hiccup managed to catch himself just in time; sure, he was anchored into place on Toothless' back thanks to the harness, but if there was one thing he'd learnt during his time on Berk when he'd been experimenting with the tail-fin it was never to put too much faith into one part of the flying gear.

After righting himself, Hiccup took deep breaths as he automatically helped Toothless adjust to the wind blowing into their faces. The dragon, sensing his pain and his weakness, turned his head and crooned worriedly.

Hiccup smiled at his friend and patted him on the neck as reassuringly as he could. "It's okay, bud," he said, "I'll be alright."

Toothless was far from reassured but there was little for the dragon to do anything in the air, instead, he warbled and turned his attention back on the flight. The Night Fury made a mental note to coddle the boy when they arrived back at the camp.

When they did arrive on the island, Hiccup had to further reassure the dragon he was okay even if he wasn't. It took him a while but eventually, he managed to make Toothless see he was okay. Once he was done, Hiccup had Toothless fire a plasma burst at a small pile of wood and leaves. Once the fire began to burn, Hiccup waited until the wood was burning enough before he closed his eyes to gather his nerve. Picking up a small piece of wood, Hiccup gently rolled up the sleeve of his shot arm, wincing, before he placed the tip of the burning wood to his arm to cauterise the wound.

The scream that escaped him startled the Night Fury and made him roar with him, the joined sounds echoing around the campsite and further beyond, startling and scaring away any wildlife out there, not that they cared.

After what seemed like forever Hiccup lowered the burning piece of wood, dropping it back into the fire and looked down at the blackened injury. He was thankful it had stopped bleeding, at last, but he would need to keep an eye on it to make sure the injury didn't get too bad.

Hiccup took a few deep breaths as he tried to control the throbbing in his head and he looked at his worried dragon. "Let's get packing," he said, "we have a busy night ahead of us. We're leaving."

* * *

Happy Christmas.


	8. Chapter 8 The Last Straw

Disclaimer - I just own the story, that should be familiar to you by now.

Feedback would definitely be nice, especially since this is the chapter where Hiccup completely turns.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

The watchmen had sighted the approaching trading ship only a few hours ago, drawing closer and closer to their island. The watchmen were on permanent duty; the Dragon War may have been over and there were no more raids now the nest had been destroyed, though the rumours and stories that drifted around the archipelago like storms and winds and tidal currents were so nonsensical that they were mostly disbelieved, and the islands further away from the former dragon nest had assumed they would pass.

They didn't. Soon there were sightings and stories passed from one mouth to another about a boy, a traitor, who rode on the back of one of those beasts. The outer islands had rarely suffered from dragon raids due to the distance, but when they had raided, the attacks had been so quick and so sudden they caused a vast amount of damage like the dragons were punishing them for being so far away from home.

Now the war was over, everyone in the Barbaric Archipelago had been waiting for the dragons to regroup and launch an attack, so the need for the watchmen and the other lookouts had become even more paramount. On top of that the islands and the tribes, even the ones further out of the core of the archipelago, had to endure the relentless attacks from rival tribes and from the Outcasts, so the watchmen had to be on guard all the time to protect their tribe and everything they had.

For the outer islands, this was even more essential since they had heard rumours of someone incredibly dangerous, someone known only to the chiefs of the tribes.

When he heard about the trading ship arriving at his island, the chief of the tribe limped as fast as he could towards the harbour to greet him, cursing the old injury he had endured for years after his leg had been torn and scorched off by a dragon who'd been trying to escape and he'd gotten in the way, but more importantly to assess whether or not he was a threat. The core didn't know it yet, but they would do in a few years from now, but there was trouble brewing in these waters now the war was over. There had been rumours about Drago Bludvist on the rise since the end of the war. The core tribes didn't know, especially after that disastrous meeting between the chiefs of the major tribes (some of the ones that suffered the most from the dragon raids) that the outer tribes had heard stories and rumours about some warlord out there that had dragons under his command, but the stories were so infrequent no-one took them seriously.

Not anymore. Now more and more people were bringing rumours of Drago thick and fast. Already ships belonging to travelling chiefs who were making their annual pilgrimages to their neighbours to discuss treaties or to establish new ones to strengthen relations, and fishermen and traders and other travellers had been attacked by dragons covered in man-made armour.

The trader jumped onto the jetty when his ship was secured and the chief studied him. He didn't look too dissimilar from any other trader as far as the chief could see. He wore a long, luxurious cloak made from expensive material topped by warm but fresh fur.

"Welcome!" the chief greeted.

"Thank you, sir," the trader returned graciously. He had a slightly nasally voice, and he had a scar running down his face. Strangely, he was wearing a hood over his right eye, held in place by a band. Some type of injury? The Chief didn't know and couldn't say, but he wasn't going to ask. It was common for traders to be injured. They regularly came across hostile dragons or hostile Vikings, so the injuries were normal. He was shorter than the average trader, but there was something about his open manner that appealed to the chief.

"How far have you come?"

"Too far. I've been at sea for months. I've got many wares to sell and I've also got news about the Dragon Rider."

The chief was so surprised by the mention of the dragon rider in the conversation he actually stopped. Many of the chiefs from the outer islands believed it was the fault of the so-called rider and the destruction of the nest which had spawned him that had made Drago move more quickly and more openly than he had done over the years, but in truth some of them were more than aware Drago would have moved with or without the rider.

"What 'bout him?" the chief asked guardedly. The chief didn't know for sure what to make about this dragon rider even if he was responsible for ending the war, though he had to agree with the consensus the rider was blaspheming against Viking tradition.

The trader opened his mouth but he quickly closed it. "Its probably best if I tell you and the rest of your tribe later on, if its all the same with you chief. I can tell you in your Great Hall-"

But the chief was not prepared for this to happen. "I'd rather you told us the news now!" he said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word now.

The trader gulped when he realised he was not going to win this little argument, and he nodded meekly. "Very well, chief."

Half an hour later, the trader found himself in the Great Hall of the tribe. He had already sold a few of his wares and had earned a small amount of cash for his troubles, as was his condition after agreeing with the chief to tell them his tale. For the meeting with the dignitaries of the island, only the chief and the rest of the council had made sure the Hall would be closed off so then they could hear the story of what had happened to the dragon rider without anybody else interjecting, though the story would soon be passed down to the rest of the tribe.

"Speak to us, trader," one of the council instructed when everybody in the Great Hall was finally settled and waiting for the trader to tell them the tale he had in store for them, "tell us what happened to the Dragon Rider."

"Is he dead or alive?" the blacksmith asked.

"Let him speak," the chief held up a massive paw of a hand to silence his council and his friends, though he did take their points. Ever since the Hairy Hooligan tribe had spread the tale about what had happened to their former heir and sightings of the rider had increased along with stories of how he freed captive dragons from Kill Rings and from dragon catchers who made their business capturing dragons and selling them to other tribes for slaughter or for other purposes, many people wanted to track him down for their own purposes, or to kill him for his traitorous actions.

The trader leaned forward. "The Dragon rider was caught by the Outcasts."

The Vikings in the hall talked to one another for a moment about this, some of them discussing the potential outcomes to this news, and what it would mean for the Outcasts to have the rider's knowledge of dragons for themselves. The Outcasts would almost certainly go out there to find more dragons, train them up, and then use them as weapons. No-one would be safe. The dragons had shown the Vikings that aerial superiority was greater than anything the Vikings were capable of.

Vikings were a hardy people with a great knowledge of navigation and shipbuilding but against an army of dragons that knowledge would not save them.

Finally, the Chief of the tribe called a halt to the debate and told the trader to carry on with his story.

"I don't know the exact details of how he was caught, but I found out an Outcast had been dropped onto the island belonging to the Bog-Burglar tribe with the story. I got the story off of 'em when I travelled to their island months ago. The Bogs didn't take too kindly to the Outcast on their island, but he was badly injured when they had him there, so there wasn't anything they could do to him that could compare to his injuries."

"What happened to him?" one of the council asked, his voice showing he didn't have a great deal of sympathy towards the Outcasts, but curious nonetheless.

"One of his arms was torn off, and one of his legs had been scorched and mangled. The Bogs managed to heal him and brought him out of the fever he caught," the trader's young face was solemn as he relayed this gruesome part of the story.

The Vikings in the hall had another debate, only this one was more horrified by what had happened to the Outcast, but they were quickly shut up and the trader was allowed to speak again.

"When the rider was caught, he was taken straight to Alvin the Treacherous, who was more than happy to meet the rider and had sent various Outcasts to follow the boy's trail in the hopes of capturing him and taking his secrets. When they finally met, he had that opportunity. Alvin ordered him to give them the secrets of dragon training, but the rider refused. He refused even when the Outcasts threatened to maim him. The rider had already seen and heard what the Outcasts were capable of, and he knew they were dangerous enough as it was with their ordinary weapons. If they had dragons…. well, the rider described the scene well, and the Outcast who was caught on the Bog-Burglar island hadn't forgotten it. Skies full of dragons, each one carrying an Outcast, dive-bombing the tribes in the same manner as the dragons during the war, burning and destroying the islands, battering down the defences of each of the tribes, levelling the houses so then the tribespeople had nowhere else to hide, before the Outcasts fought the warriors hand-to-hand and overpowering them. Once the warriors were finished, then the Outcasts would take the people of the tribe prisoner. Many of them would be sold into slavery, while the others who were ambitious were given the chance to join the Outcasts. We all know that's how the Outcasts operate, right?" The trader explained, looking from one elder to the next, and seeing them nod in agreement before he carried on.

"Alvin was….furious with the rider's defiance; for a kid who was reputed to be useless on his island, the boy was defiant, and even when he was beaten black and blue, the boy refused to talk or even describe what he had done to make the Night Fury bend to his will," the trader said.

"I still can't believe it was a boy who rides a Night Fury."

"Yes."

"Hold it, where in Thor's name was the Night Fury?" One of the more smarter Vikings in the hall asked suddenly when he spotted a flaw in the story. "Surely it wouldn't have wanted its master to be captured?" he scoffed at the end, clearly finding the idea of a dragon serving a human ridiculous.

The Chief thought he saw something like anger flash for a moment in the trader's brilliant green eyes, but when his expression lightened and became more humorous he decided the young man was just frustrated few seemed to be taking his story seriously.

"Apparently the dragon was told to fly away, or something like that; the Outcast was very vague about the details when he was interrogated by Big-Boobed Bertha and the other Bog-Burglars. He may not have known the details himself, or he was hiding them; either way, I don't know how the Night Fury was able to get away from the Outcasts, but his master was not so lucky. Alvin had him locked up for three months."

"Three months?" someone echoed. "Doesn't seem so long."

"It was long enough for Alvin to beat the rider while trying to figure out the best way to persuade him to change his mind," the trader replied.

"But he didn't?" The village healer asked, leaning forward, her eyes showing a keen professional interest that was commendable.

"No. The Outcast described how Alvin had gotten so frustrated he'd had the boy whipped with chains a month after he'd been captured. Alvin had just about had enough of the defiance from the rider and had decided to make the boy see for himself just how badly he saw defiance. He had the boy's tunic torn off and then he was tied to a pair of posts in the village, and from there he produced a length of chain and started to methodically whip the boy, not to death but close to it. In the hands of a strong Viking like Stoick the Vast or Alvin the Treacherous, such a beating would cause injury to even the strongest, able-bodied Viking. The boy was lucky. He could have been killed. The only reason he wasn't was because the Outcast healers told Alvin he was going too far."

The island Chief noticed the distaste in the trader's voice at the mention of Alvin the Treacherous, which was understandable considering the things Alvin had done to various tribes during his marauding life, but he didn't understand the distaste the trader felt towards Stoick the Vast, who was considered to be one of the most capable and benevolent chiefs in the archipelago who had contributed a great deal towards the dragon war, but then again he was like many other chiefs who had done the same.

The trader had probably missed some cash or something. It was none of the chief's business since there were some other Vikings he himself didn't like himself.

"The boy was kept locked up, and the only people allowed near him were the guard that brought him a meagre meal every day though Alvin had promised him better food if he would cooperate and talk about what could be used to make the dragons obey them, and the healer who tended to his wounds. But many of the guards decided to have their own way with the hoy. Many of them regularly beat the boy, but they had to tone down their beatings when one of them went too far and nearly punched the boy which almost sliced into the boys' lung."

The Chief closed his eyes for a second. Despite not being fond of the idea of a boy raised in a Viking village with traditional Viking philosophies entering his mind, only to betray his village by riding a dragon despite ending the war which had torn apart lives and lands throughout the archipelago for the last three centuries, the Chief did not like the idea of someone dying by a punch to the chest where his lung could be sliced to pieces by a broken rib.

Becoming aware the trader was looking at him, the Chief met the young man's eyes. There was no expression whatsoever in the trader's eyes, and he wondered what was going through the trader's mind.

The trader broke the silence. "The rider was lucky, he could have been killed. According to the Outcast interrogated by Bertha, the rider was not allowed any interaction for weeks. Alvin was furious. He personally tortured the guard responsible for the beating. While Alvin had done a fair amount of injuring the boy himself, it wasn't as serious. Alvin wanted the boy to remain alive and healthy so then he could be brought around to the Outcast's way of thinking, and now thanks to the guard that chance had probably been lost. The boy was left to heal for a month after being on the island for two months already."

"You said he'd been a prisoner for three months," the blacksmith noted thoughtfully, "what happened? How did he get free?"

The trader looked thoughtful himself. "The Outcast was vague about how the boy freed himself. Most of it was guesswork. The boy was still recovering in the healer's hut, under limited guard since Alvin and the other Outcasts didn't think he was going anywhere, and he was not physically strong enough to cause them any problems. He was only restrained with rope because the healers didn't want his recovery affected by heavy metal chains holding him down. But he was able to free himself with something sharp, and then he managed to sneak away into the night."

"What's so vague about that part?" One of the council asked the trader, who looked back confused.

"Pardon?" the trader asked, looking at the member in confusion.

"You just said the Outcast held by the Bog-Burglars was vague about how the boy freed himself, and yet your story states he was able to slice his ropes," the council member said almost accusingly.

"Ah, I see where this is going. The reason why the Outcast was vague was Alvin had quickly spread disinformation about the escape. He had spread some vague tales himself about the boys escape, one after another until even the Outcast Big-Boobed Bertha's got in her custody can't tell the difference. But it makes no difference; the basics of the rider's escape are all the same in each telling, it's just the way they're told they're different."

The Chief wondered what had really happened. It sounded like something Alvin would do in order to save face, but he just wasn't sure. "Go on," he encouraged the young trader to go on with his story.

But the young man needed to take a moment to get his mind back to where he had been, and then he carried on with his tale. "Alvin had the entire island searched for the rider. But there was no sign of the boy. To make matters worse, the boy had stolen a boat and sailed away. The Outcasts found it missing in the early hours of the early morning, but Alvin still ordered a search of the whole island to make sure the boy hadn't just sneaked around the coast and found a hiding place far from the Outcast's village."

The Chief thought that made sense. While it would be a good move on the rider's part to escape by heading out to sea, it was also just as wise to sneak around the coast of the Outcasts' home island, risky as it was, and recover while using the trees and rocks for cover.

"But there was no sign of the boat anywhere, not even beneath the surface. It didn't take long for Alvin and the others to begin realising he had headed out to sea, but they didn't know where. That didn't stop Alvin. According to the Outcast, he sent out ships in every direction and even led one of the hunts himself, but they never found the boy. The Outcast was part of a different hunting group, and they were at sea for the best part of a fortnight but they found nothing. Alvin and the others came up with the same. Nothing."

The trader paused for a second. The council members looked at one another, wondering if that was the end of the tale, but the Chief was unconvinced since one of the Outcasts had been interrogated by Bertha. A moment later he began to speak once more. His voice was low, grim.

"A few weeks later and more hunts which also turned up nothing, the Outcasts were attacked by the Dragon rider. He came back on his Night Fury and together they destroyed the village. The attack was so sudden and shocking the Outcasts hadn't expected it. They hadn't even heard the Night Fury's signature whistle which signals the onset of death itself."

The council collectively shivered. The tale of the Night Fury had spread all over the archipelago for centuries and the breed of the demon was such the sound of the whistle shrieking noise was enough for warriors to plan their own funerals with a lot more than what tradition dictated.

The trader continued, "Together the rider and his beast destroyed the village. The ships were destroyed one by one after the dragon passed over them, almost as though Loki himself wished to make things more interesting. Explosions would go off. Smoke, fire, explosions ripping through the defences and men being blasted into pieces. Meanwhile, the beast itself picked up some of the Outcasts, taking them up screaming and struggling into the air, only to be engulfed by the night sky…. and then dropped from a great height."

The council shuddered as one at the thought of a death like that. It was more subtle than a conventional dragon-related death, somehow.

"As for Alvin….. the Outcast is not so sure, but he saw a great light engulf his chief. But whether or not Alvin is still alive, he doesn't know. The Outcast's memories at that point of the attack are sketchy; he doesn't remember much, except a great pain in his leg, and the feeling of being snatched and taken up into the air. The next thing he knew, he was dumped on the island of the Bog-Burglars and left there to rot," the trader finished.

For a moment there was nothing but silence as everyone absorbed what the trader had told them all. "But that is not all," the trader went on, looking seriously around the Hall, "that was weeks ago, but I've come across islands where the tribes describe the Dragon rider and his demon attacking and stealing things like tools, weapons and food. Ships that were sent out on regular missions have gone missing, and lives have been lost. Thanks to Alvin the Treacherous, the Dragon rider has become a major threat."

"He already was! He freed dragons from the Kill Rings!" Someone shouted, and others shouted and nodded in agreement.

The Chief saw the trader's face darken at the loudness of the interruption and he stood up so fast it stunned everyone. "SHUT UP, all of ye!" he bellowed. "Let the trader finish."

"Thanks, chief," the trader smiled gratefully, though it was strange to see half of a smile when half of the young man's face was hidden by that hood, the smile quickly faded as the young man's voice and features became more businesslike. "You are correct," he said, looking around the hall, "but the Dragon Rider had never attacked anyone before. When she learnt of the threat, Big-Boobed Bertha spread the word to the other tribes, using her own people and traders and other travellers. My journey is taking me further beyond the outer rim of the archipelago, so you had better tell as many as you can about the threat of the Dragon Rider."

* * *

The trader remained on the island for another few days before he left in his ship. He had made a small amount of money in exchange for some of his wares, and although he claimed his ship had some provisions already such as meats and mead, he didn't say no to a few others. He could be at sea for some time, and he would need all the supplies he could get. A few in the village had asked him how he'd managed to become a trader so young, and he had smiled and told the curious people his family had always been traders. He had been on this particular ship since his father and grandfather had built it and taken it out to visit the various islands in the archipelago.

A few had asked him questions about his scar, but he had refused to answer the questions about why he was wearing his hood though he knew such questions were logical since half of his head was covered and he hadn't explained why. He had no intention of it since it was none of their concern and besides it was a secret.

Finally, he left in the mid-afternoon and he sailed away and he pushed his ship off away from the dock before he made sail. Once his ship was beyond the horizon and the island was out of sight, the trader took a deep breath before he left the quarterdeck and began searching the ship for any sign of any stowaways though he knew it was unlikely anyone had sneaked onboard. He wasn't worried, though; he might not be physically able to fight anyone, but his dragon was.

Heading down into the hold, he braced himself while he let his scent pass through the open slit cut into the door and he opened the door. Instantly he was pushed onto his back by a massive black mass. He groaned in disgust when he felt the Night Fury excitedly lick him.

"Okay, Toothless! Get off! Let me up!" Hiccup groaned as he tried to stop the Night Fury's slobber was covering him completely, but he knew he would have to burn these clothes since the slobber was virtually impossible to clean out.

At last the overexcited dragon backed off, eyes wide, while he panted like a dog. "Yeah, I'm happy to see you too, bud," Hiccup said as he wiped off as much of the slobber off of his hands, but he knew he was just getting it all over himself. He looked up and saw his dragon's expression as he heard a warble.

"I'm okay. I'm glad to see you as well, and I'm sorry that I haven't taken you flying for days," Hiccup apologised, and the dragon whined. Hiccup took a deep breath and sighed, hating to see his best friend unhappy like this. 'Anyway, I'm finished. We no longer need to hide."

Toothless looked sadly at him.

Hiccup looked down knowing what his dragon was thinking. How had he reached this point, he asked himself. But he always came back to the same old answer. He went silent for a moment as he remembered what had happened. The story he had told the tribe, one of many, for the past few months (he was surprised when he had not been asked by anyone, least of all the chief of the tribe himself hadn't bothered to ask him when the whole story had taken place. He guessed it was simply because they had been taken aback by the tale he'd told them, and their knowledge of the Dragon rider and his exploits had been fairly limited and basic since very few people came out this far. They had probably assumed the incident with the Outcasts had taken place months ago since it would take forever for one of their ships to travel that far into the Core, so they hadn't seen the point) had been told. There was no reason for him to hide anymore.

Ever since he had been shot in his arm after those Vikings had stolen the supplies he'd been holding on that little island some time ago, on top of that confrontation with Astrid, Hiccup had tried to develop a standoffish approach when it came to other Vikings, in fact he had gone out of his way to avoid Vikings all together and he had decided to simply stop giving the tribes like the Hooligans clues to where he was in the archipelago.

He had begun to travel mostly at night and sleep and explore islands in the day and early evening for a few days to get an idea of where there was where he could find fresh food and fresh water along with any other raw materials he could use for later before he left. It wasn't difficult - Toothless was mostly a nocturnal creature, though he was adaptable for both daytime and nighttime flight, and his eyes were sharp enough no matter what time it was.

But the Outcasts…. Hiccup hadn't expected to encounter them, and to be honest he had the feeling the renegade Vikings had felt the same way when they'd attacked him and Toothless. One minute the Outcasts were not there, and the next they were on top of him and Toothless, and they had managed to throw a bola tied to a strong rope at Hiccup's legs.

Meanwhile, the Night Fury had been fighting several Outcasts, and with better luck than Hiccup. But he had still been taken by surprise by the Vikings, which showed they weren't the conventional Viking who would have blundered in. No, they were decent dragon hunters and that meant they had learnt that the best way to creep up on a dragon was to be as quiet as they could while trying to avoid rustling bushes or stepping on twigs while keeping themselves downwind. How they had managed to track him and Toothless down, Hiccup had no idea. Alvin had not really been social, and to be honest, Hiccup hadn't wanted to ask him too many questions.

Hiccup looked down, remembering how the Outcasts had tried to pull him towards them while fighting a tug of war against Toothless, who was desperately trying to drag him away from their grubby hands. But Hiccup had known it was no use - there had been too many of them, and Toothless was fighting a losing battle trying to stop them dragging him off.

It had all happened so fast. Somehow, Hiccup had managed to reach for his dagger and cut the rope so he could get to Toothless, only for another Outcast to grab him, but not before he managed to adjust Toothless's tail-fin to allow the dragon to fly without him, though not for long periods. Toothless had been horrified by what he had done.

Hiccup had yelled at his dragon to escape, but the stubborn Night Fury didn't take off, but after exhausting all of the gases and liquids in his body that needed to be mixed together to form plasma bursts that were so superheated they could melt iron that was a foot thick, the dragon knew he had no choice, but that didn't stop him from trying. It wasn't until Hiccup had insisted he escape, Toothless did but not without a mournful howl. The Outcasts tried to use their bolas to bring the dragon down, but they'd missed. Hiccup had managed to build a new model of the prosthetic after finding the time to renovate an abandoned forge on an island with a long since abandoned village. The archipelago was full of them. Over the centuries the dragons or their human enemies had driven off the Viking tribes, forcing them to abandon their homes.

Hiccup had encountered quite a few of these villages over the years. Some of them had been half flattened decades ago, but many of the familiar structures remained. Hiccup had managed to renovate the forges of a few of the islands before and after that mess on Nadder's Point. There were only so many places in the archipelago anyone would think to look for him if the tribes tried to hunt him down, and as long as he was seen flying miles away from the abandoned tribal islands, no-one would think to look and no-one went anywhere near the islands, to begin with.

It was considered to be taboo to travel anywhere near the abandoned homes of the tribes since it was considered there were ghosts from the fallen warriors who had met their ends. These days only pirates or Outcasts needing resupply or a place to hide travelled to the well-known ones, but Hiccup had found a few small, remote islands with abandoned villages on them. One such island was basically a giant rock with no beach but a large river, and further inland was their village. The Vikings had built their home like that in order to hide their home from their enemies and to build up defences by using the natural environment, but why they disappeared Hiccup didn't know.

While he'd been there Hiccup had spent a lot of time and energy using the forges' outdated tools to work on the tail fin. He had come up with numerous designs and ways to make the fin work without him to manipulate the gears to keep his promise to Toothless that one day the dragon would be able to fly on his own again. When Hiccup had found the island that had long since been abandoned, no signs of the place being visited or raided, never mind inhabited, which showed a fertile place to begin to work on the tail fin. The new model of the tail fin was slightly more advanced than the one he'd used in the battle with the Queen, but while it allowed Toothless to fly on his own for short periods, eventually the Night Fury would need him to work it but it had allowed him to escape to freedom.

Hiccup led Toothless back up to the quarterdeck, the Night Fury following virtually silently as he sensed his human rider deep in thought, but crooning worriedly because he could sense Hiccup's dark mood. The Night Fury wished he could communicate with his human to let him know of just how horrifying it had been for him when Hiccup had been taken by the Outcasts. After spending hours flying in a spiral motion around the same island just to give himself more control in the air since the tail fin was still being developed; in fact the only reason they'd travelled to the island with the Outcasts on them had been to test it further away from the forge in the first place. He had also been trying to find Hiccup's scent so he could attempt a rescue, but he had been too high up, and the wind had blown all kinds of scents into his nostrils which made it virtually impossible. By the time day had come the Outcasts were gone and he had no idea where they had gone, though it wouldn't have made much difference. The tail fin was only good for short range flights, and Toothless had no idea how far out Hiccup was, though the boy knew where the island was thanks to the stars. He had learnt from Gobber how to navigate via the stars. It also helped that the Outcast Vikings had chained him to the mast so he had plenty of opportunities to look up.

Hiccup could not believe how stupid Alvin and the other Outcasts were in taking the precaution to blindfold him. Navigation by stars was pathetically easy, a child could do it.

Then again whoever said some Vikings had brains.

Hiccup would never forget the truly pathetic ways Alvin had tried to persuade him to give up his secrets about dragon training. He had not spent the best part of a year avoiding the Viking tribes, running whenever someone got curious about him whenever he arrived on one of the hub islands only to be caught out.

But he had always known there was a chance he'd be captured. He couldn't keep his guard up at all times, and besides, he hadn't expected the Outcasts to be there in the first place. They hadn't even been looking for him. They'd only taken advantage of a situation.

Alvin had tried to bribe him, offering him promises of power, of bringing the archipelago around with himself and Hiccup as leaders. What was truly pathetic was Alvin made those promises without realising Hiccup genuinely didn't need the Outcasts if he wished to become a tyrant. He had almost laughed himself to death, but he hadn't since it wouldn't have ended well. Alvin would have asked what was so funny, and the reason would have made the older Viking lose it completely when he was trying hard to keep up a facade that was as fake as his 'promises.'

If Hiccup had wanted to gain power, he could very well gain it for himself. There were hundreds of dragons out there in the archipelago. It wouldn't have taken him long to create an army out of the winged reptiles and begun an all-out war over Viking territory. And he would have won. Hiccup would never have made the same mistakes as the Queen dragon had; sitting in some stupid nest, gorging himself to death on so much food he would never have been able to move again while leaving so many of his subjects to die at the hands of an army of angry Vikings.

No, he would have destroyed the tribes and laid waste to their islands.

But he wouldn't do that. He would never go that far. It wasn't his nature for a start to go that far, to desire to destroy Vikings everywhere. Besides, he wanted to explore the world, to see new lands, to learn new languages and about new legends and cultures. While his former tribes' treatment of him had been bad, it hadn't been that twisted, so Hiccup didn't see it as worthwhile.

Besides Hiccup knew Alvin was lying anyway which only made the promises more empty than a wasteland. Hiccup had once been the former heir to the Hairy Hooligan tribe and, no matter what his former father thought, he had picked up more than most expected. He had heard a great deal about Alvin over the years. He knew the other Viking was known to be a liar and a murderer.

Did the Outcast really think he was stupid? Hiccup had learnt a great deal during his lessons as an heir, even if his former father had shown little faith in his abilities. Learning about Berk's enemies had been part of the curriculum.

But he was still frustrated and annoyed with Vikings and their short-sighted ideas. The worst of it was Alvin had guessed it quickly.

Alvin had tried to appeal to Hiccup's frustration with the rest of Viking-kind, guessing correctly the boy was at times lashing out at how badly he'd been treated and hounded since the day he had escaped and ended the war in one go. Out of all the more "kinder" forms of persuasion, of which included good food and living space despite being chained tightly to the main mast for a few hours, this one was more appealing to Hiccup because he just wanted the Vikings to grow up, but he knew it would never happen. The only way to change the Vikings was to mass slaughter the adults and make sure the babies and small children survived, that way they could be educated to see that the world of Midgard didn't need to be seen in shades of black and white.

When Alvin finally accepted the fact nothing he was doing was making any difference and that Hiccup refused to help, he decided to forget the need to be patient or kind which were foreign concepts to a Viking, and he decided to beat Hiccup. Alvin the Treacherous was reputed to be stronger than Stoick the Vast, but the Outcast leader had no idea Hiccup had expected the blows to come sooner or later. It was small slaps at first; Alvin wanted information from Hiccup, he couldn't get it if the young rider was dead.

After being slapped around for days, it moved on to being physically pummelled while Alvin tried to hold a tight grip over himself but with each slow punch that broadcasted his intentions a mile off, Hiccup was able to adapt and prepare for the pain. But what he didn't expect was being whipped with a length of chain. Again, Alvin held a tight grip on his control, though it made little difference; by the time the beating was over with, Hiccup was practically catatonic for days.

Alvin always kept a tight grip over himself because he knew how valuable Hiccup was, beaten or not. It never occurred to the guards themselves what would have happened. The guards were frustrated with their leader's 'softness' and they decided to show Alvin how it should have been done, but they went too far.

Hiccup had been lucky, he could have been killed. When the beating was over he found himself back inside the Healer's hut, and Alvin had personally tortured and Blood-Eagled the guards after subjecting them to the loss of their hands and feet and their tongues. He had gone wild with fury at what had happened to the prisoner because Hiccup was lucky to survive. Maimed, yes, but alive. He grimaced as he thought about what the Outcasts had taken from him.

Hiccup had lost sight in his right eye thanks to the knife that was slashed down his face when one of the guards went too far and lacked the control Alvin was trying hard to maintain. There was now a scar that ran down the length of his face, down his forehead and just above the corner of his mouth, but he kept it hidden either by wearing a hood or an eyepatch.

Once more his ability to recover quickly had taken him by surprise and soon Hiccup was able to see again, though it had horrified him when he had found out what the guard had done - just because he had lost sight in the eye during the confrontation didn't mean he was aware of it through the pain - and he had made plans to escape. He had taken advantage of the Healer's absence to have a look around her hut, and he had found a small cutting knife on one of the tables. Hiccup had kept an eye (no pun intended) looking out for the tool, and for a week he kept watch for the guards and for Alvin.

One night he had made his move. He had cut the rope holding him down; Alvin had been amazed by his near rapid recovering after the chain whipping, but the latest injury had given him cause for concern, but the Outcast had decided to take no chances and had Hiccup roped to the bed.

Once he was free, he had simply escaped while using his sketchy knowledge of the island to find a boat and return to the smaller island where Toothless was hiding and waiting for him. Escaping from Outcast Island was actually easier than he'd expected since the Outcasts believed no-one would have the guts to go up against them, but he quickly proved that belief wrong.

Toothless had been horrified by the extent of Hiccup's injuries, but Hiccup had reassured the Night Fury he would get them checked out soon, but first, they had a job to do. They travelled to Outcast Island and destroyed it. Hiccup had been telling the truth about not knowing whether or not Alvin was dead or not, but he didn't care. But if he encountered the Outcasts again then they would be wiped out.

After destroying the Outcasts' sorry excuse for a home, Hiccup had Toothless snatch up one of the guards and after brutally maiming him, guided the dragon into the territory of the Bog-Burglars.

Oh, Big-Boobed Bertha soon heard from the Outcast what had happened and she had spread word (it had hurt Hiccup he didn't get the chance or the opportunity to say hello to Camicazi, but that was life), and soon he'd travelled to a hub island similar to the one at Nadder's Point. After making up a plausible story for the island's healers, Hiccup had got himself checked up. During his recovery, while Toothless was safely hidden on the island, someone from the Bog-Burglar tribe arrived and spread the news of what had happened to the Outcasts. Soon after he got away, Hiccup found and stole a ship used for trading and he started taking it out to the distant parts of the archipelago, disguised as a trader, and told a story of how the dragon rider had turned pirate.

He spun tales of how he himself had begun raiding numerous islands for goods while destroying them at the same time. There was nothing fake about that part, it was true enough. The Outcasts had driven the last shred of innocence out of poor little Hiccup, and now all he wanted was to lash out at the Vikings everywhere. He was sick and tired of hiding in the shadows. He was tired of the endless hunts for him that were still going on even when he was trying to remain distant from the Vikings. It was time for everyone to see he was worse than they believed. Everyone believed him to be a monster because of his actions and how he'd trained Toothless and rode him, and they delighted in spreading rumours and lies about him causing death and destruction. Hiccup hadn't truly tried to dissuade that belief. He knew it would be impossible anyway, so why bother?

But the Outcasts had done it. They had shown him there were those out there who would not stop until they had him in their grip, dead or alive. He preferred to be alive, but he would not fly around with his head in the clouds. No more.

He was done being the Dragon Rider.

Now he was the Dragon Pirate, a rider who flew on a Night Fury, plundering ships and islands for needed supplies, and after that mess when the crossbow bolt had skewered him, he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Turning to his dragon, Hiccup smiled. "It's time, bud," he said.

* * *

Until the next time..!


	9. Chapter 9 The Dragon Pirate's routine

Disclaimer - I don't own How to Train Your Dragon. I'm just writing something different.

Please leave creative feedback.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

Hiccup smirked under his visor as he reached his dragon, Toothless' wings were already unfurling as he prepared to take off, though the Night Fury's eyes were narrowed slits with his ear plates lowered as he pawed the ground as his rider rushed towards him with half a dozen Vikings chasing after him. Slipping a hand into his armour, Hiccup pulled out a small clay egg with a fuse on it, before he took out his lighter. The spark created when the Monstrous Nightmare saliva caught alight, and the fuse began to spark. Without turning back Hiccup threw the egg over his shoulder as he ran towards Toothless, who was tensing up ready for a fight and had been for the last five minutes.

Hiccup's smirk widened when he heard the explosion while he slipped in and around houses on the island this tribe had, thankful that his short, wiry frame was coming in handy while his hand went back into his armour for another charge. After lighting it, he hurled it back over his head, this time there was a cry of pain, but he didn't turn back. He didn't feel any regret for what he'd done, he had done when he had begun plundering the various islands. Not anymore.

When the Night Fury saw him Toothless crooned enquiringly to find out if he was alright, that he hadn't been harmed.

"I'm okay, bud," Hiccup said quickly, smiling at his dragon's coddling even as he quickly jumped onto the Night Fury's back with a smooth practiced move before they were both in the air. When they were high up, too high for even the strongest catapults, Hiccup turned his head so he could look down on the island he'd just left. He couldn't see any signs of fire because of the charges, though he knew they had done some damage, and yet he knew far below, there would be dozens of people injured because of what he'd just done.

He sighed with genuine regret. While he had no problem hurting those who either hurt or hunted him down, he did not like injuring people needlessly. Hiccup turned his head around and he took control of Toothless, knowing he was only doing it to assuage his guilty conscience. While he could say with complete honesty he was enjoying being a pirate who rode a dragon and committed acts of theft against the various Viking tribes, he did not like other people paying the price for his actions.

* * *

As Toothless flew and put distance between them and the island he had just visited and plundered, Hiccup turned his thinking off and focused on the ride back to the island he had taken as a base of operations. The ride back to the island took Toothless only an hour. As Toothless drew closer to the island, Hiccup studied it as it jutted out of the sea, a rugged fang of dark rock, with high mountains, harshly chipped out of the rock. From the sea, the island was inaccessible, with no beaches or rivers longboats could not find anywhere to land, or get deeper into the island by using the river as a passageway. In short, it was the perfect place for Hiccup to set up his base.

Once they'd landed, Hiccup led the Night Fury into a cave overlooking the sea that gave him an excellent vantage point and gave him a perfect view of what was out there. The island he was on was quite close to the shipping lanes where the traders, merchants and fishermen passed by on the main routes through the archipelago. Anyone looking for him would be concentrating on the islands that were far away, guessing he would want somewhere remote, a long way away from the various tribal islands, such a long way it would take weeks for even the fastest and sleekest longship from reaching the island.

Instead, he had decided to make his base close to the core on an island that had no way in since there was no harbour, but the island was one of many in the archipelago. There were hundreds of islands like that dotted about the archipelago, but he had chosen this one because of how close it was to the main tribes and to many of the tribes beyond. He didn't want to go anywhere near those benighted islands. He had seen them already, and while it would have been good to plunder them where they were a long way away from the more powerful of the Viking tribes, he wanted to deal with the powerful ones since they had everything. They had supplies of food, raw materials so he could work on building the forge on this island as he had done on several others dotted around the archipelago, though some of the things he would take would be given to other islands.

After slipping off Toothless's prosthetic and getting the Night Fury some fish for his long night, Hiccup went deeper into the cave so then he could stoke the fire in the crude grate he'd made for this place, and he sat down on a rock. He would be happy to get some sleep, he thought to himself as he relieved himself of his armour and his gear.

As he slipped off the layers of flexible leather and took off his utility belt, Hiccup thought about the recent events. For the past three months, since he'd recovered from his time on the Outcast island, Hiccup had been learning how to become a pirate. In theory, it was incredibly straightforward to be one; you simply had to attack a ship on the sea, which had done on more than one occasion so far and was actually the first thing he had done as a dragon pirate, the first one ever as far as he knew, have a few fights and then get back with your plunder intact.

And your dragon safe, he added darkly to himself as he recalled that occasion where one of the tribes had fired a razor net straight at them in the air, or that time where bolas were fired into the sky. Toothless hadn't been harmed, thank Odin. It had been close, though.

The breaking of dawn the next day brought with it a routine; Hiccup would take Toothless out for a brief fly to exercise the dragon and keep him happy before he fed the ravenous dragon, and then he himself would have his own breakfast before he went out and explored some more of the island which was currently not just his headquarters but also was his home. He frequently went out into the island's wilderness to give himself freedom of mind, but also to pace his thinking while he thought about his long-term plans.

Hiccup had already worked out his plans in advance. He had decided to turn to piracy to make ends meet, but he would give away the things he wouldn't need to those who needed it. The things he would need he would store on this island. He had become sick and tired of wandering around the Barbaric Archipelago, either trading items or selling his services and skills as a blacksmith apprentice to any smith out there while using whatever money he accumulated to purchase whatever he needed, Hiccup had been okay with that approach at first even though he had been increasingly uncomfortable with being forced to stay on one island for long periods of time. Nadder's Point was a prime example, and besides the longer he was forced to wait to gather supplies for himself and to maintain the tail fin, the greater the risk to Toothless.

Being a pirate was incredibly simple and it meant he could gather everything he needed and wanted for what he wanted to do in the future. With the tribes of the Barbaric Archipelago separated by miles and miles of sea, and having a dragon to travel to those islands, it was incredibly easy to just sneak to those islands and take what he wanted, or he could go after merchants and traders to see what they had in their wares.

Hiccup preferred to attack ships since they were more isolated than the islands, and besides, he didn't want to cause any problems for the Hairy Hooligans because he no longer cared about them as a tribe, but the Dragon War had just ended. He didn't want to give the other tribes a new target for them to vent their spleen on.

But there was worse than the tribes out there.

Hiccup closed his one good eye and sighed, shivering with dread, as he remembered his first and so far only meeting with the madman Drago Bludvist.

It had been a shock to discover someone else out there with the ability to control dragons, but that was as far as Hiccup and Drago had in common.

Alright, he wouldn't deny it, but the thought of humans and dragons being friends with one another was a nice one, but after he had seen the way Vikings treated dragons beyond the Kill Ring, he had come to accept the fact it was not going to happen. It was sad, but that was the truth.

There was simply too much bad blood between both races for that to happen.

But Drago…. There was something really wrong with that man. Hiccup had only met him the once, but he had not enjoyed the experience one little bit, especially when he had seen the lengths the bastard and his followers went to get his hands on dragons, but what he did with them… Hiccup had no idea.

He shook his head, deciding it was not a good idea to dwell on the matter. He had managed to free as many dragons from Drago's tender clutches as he could, but he had no idea how many more were being held by the man, or what Drago was even doing with them; he knew they were building an army to take over the world, but how they were doing that, he didn't know. All he did know was the people who worked for Drago were scared stiff of him, not that Hiccup really cared, but Hiccup had encountered the man once, and it had not been a pleasant meeting.

He pushed those memories aside, remembering them for the close call he'd had and decided to focus on his other thoughts (he didn't bother sparing any more attention to the talk he'd heard from Drago's men about "the dragon rider" that apparently flew on a larger dragon with four wings; with everything else he had picked up over the years, another myth meant nothing to him, though the idea of another rider was something that made him wonder if there was another like him out there, but since the source of this 'rumour' was a bunch of men who went around capturing and probably torturing dragons, he was going to take it with a pinch of salt, as it deserved).

Hiccup didn't plan on being a pirate for the rest of his life. No, he would only be one for another few months now he had finished laying down the groundwork to spread a "reputation" for himself, and then he would say goodbye to the Barbaric Archipelago. He unconsciously rubbed his eyepatch with a deep sigh. Just feeling the hated thing on his face gave him another reason why he had turned to piracy. Alvin and his men had taught him even if he tried to live in peace he would still be hunted, especially since he was long since gone from a tribe.

He might not want to have anything to do with his former father anymore, but that didn't mean Hiccup wanted to cause major troubles for the tribes in the archipelago, though it would be poetic to leave the place wracked with chaos as he left as penance for them putting him through hell.

Walking back into his cave, the first thing Hiccup experienced was being knocked onto his back by the overexcited Toothless. After he managed to get the Night Fury off of him, he led the dragon to the loot, and the pair of them went through the motions of going through the lot.

Hiccup held up a number of large rope coils and instantly shoved them into the "keep" pile before he pulled out a load of hairpins and other accessories. He dumped them into the "Don't keep" pile.

When they were finished Hiccup surveyed the keep pile. It was filled with rope, mostly, but there were metallic objects as well, a few knives, a couple of swords. They weren't going to be a problem; melt them down and they would be perfect for him to use to make spare parts for Toothless's prosthetic, and even help him with his research in giving the Night Fury a tail fin prosthetic he could use without his rider controlling every move.

That was the reason why Toothless and Hiccup were still in the archipelago. It had nothing to do with greed, or revenge (though he had to admit it was still a fun reason, to get even with many of the Vikings).

Hiccup was trying to restore his dragon's full freedom of movement, and with the resources of the various forges he'd come across since he had managed to flee Berk after the final battle from the fully equipped forges to the derelict ones he had discovered on the forgotten and abandoned homes of tribes that no longer existed or had just moved off, Hiccup hadn't had any problem with building a forge of his own in a well-ventilated cavern which was open up to the sea, and gave him the right amount of air to keep the fires going and yet vent the place out. If someone passed the island by, Hiccup wasn't worried if they happened to see the smoke and fire since they wouldn't be able to get anywhere near the island.

As he walked into the forge after leaving Toothless with the simple task and sweeping the keep pile into the storeroom, Hiccup saw the numerous pieces of paper torn out of his journals that chronicled his efforts to construct and test a prototype tail fin to help Toothless. Hiccup wasn't going to rush this work, he wanted to get it just right for his Night Fury.

Hiccup picked up a journal and a charcoal pencil and looked over the latest technical entries, and studied his calculations some more. The main problem he was having with the prosthetic was making it work for the dragon-like it was his own flesh and blood, but another was what it would need to be made from, and there were a host of problems mechanical wise since it was more complex than an ordinary prosthetic.

Hiccup rubbed a hand over his face, grimacing at the feel of the needle-like hairs on his chin, realising he would need to use a knife to scrape it all off - he didn't want to spend his life looking like a miniature version of Stoick the Vast, wondering if perhaps he would be better off building a tail fin that Toothless could operate on his own in a more basic form before he took the design out beyond the archipelago, and maybe find a forge with an open-minded smith to help him, give him opinions and options.

He shrugged his shoulders and decided to give that idea some serious thought for himself later. In the meantime, he would carry on with his plans and go from there.

* * *

The little boy, though in Viking terms he was quite large, was walking through the town on his way back to his house. He had spent the best part of the day on his job at the harbour, lifting boxes and taking them back and forth to the various ships as they came and left the island. As he walked home, flexing his aching muscles, all the boy wanted was to go home, eat, rest, and then go to bed.

Suddenly the boy stopped when he thought he'd heard something. His house was, damn Loki, just outside the boundary of the town for reasons he could never understand since they'd been lost to time, though he guessed one of his ancestors had decided it was a good idea to keep his descendants safe from dragon raids, though truthfully the boy thought it was a pain in the butt especially when he had to spend hours at the harbour, so he could hear a great deal as he left the village.

It sounded like…..something beating the air…. Wait, something the air…. something in the sky… That could only mean one thing-!

"DRAGON!" the boy screamed at the top of his voice.

The sound of his voice carried to many of the nearby houses, some of them already had their owners inside, so they instantly heard his warning. The war may be over, but dragons were still considered the greatest enemy of their people.

His father barrelled towards him, glaring at him with an intensity that told him his father was frightened. "Where is it, boy?"

"I don't know. I just heard the sound of beating wings."

But there were too many people demanding answers and making crude threats, so the boy's father yelled, "SHUT UP, ALL OF YE! QUIET, AND LISTEN!"

it took a few moments, but eventually, the other Vikings shut up. When they did they could hear it too, the sound of wings beating above their heads, sweeping over the town, and over their heads. The Vikings lifted up their weapons and charged towards the centre of their town, but when they got there they were in for a shock.

The boy's eyes widened when he took in the sight of a long black dragon, so black it almost blended in perfectly with the shadows of the darkness of the night, with big green eyes, and a mouth full of sharp, white teeth. But that was not what attracted the boy's notice when a flash a movement caught his attention, and he gasped in shock. Around him, the other Vikings were just as surprised by the sight of someone standing near the dragon and a pile of objects nearby, but it was too dark for the boy to see clearly what it was.

The figure was too far away for the boy to get an accurate impression of how tall and how large he was. Still the figure was wearing some sort of black mask that completely covered his face so no-one could see his features, and he was dressed in some kind of armour that didn't look all that tough, but the strange cloak covering the figure made it virtually impossible to get any more ideas about the figures' form, or his intentions.

The moment the figure spotted the Vikings nearby, he instantly froze, but his dragon hissed and snarled at them.

The boy's heart raced in panic and terror as he put two and two together. Black body, sleek, menacing…. "NIGHT FURY!" he yelled, but before anyone could react, the figure jumped on the dragon's back, and the beast leapt into the air, cloaked by the night.

* * *

Until the next time...


	10. Chapter 10 Drawing plans against the Pir

As usual, I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.

Please leave feedback.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

The outer tribes of the Barbaric Archipelago were currently in a meeting, but it wasn't going anywhere. In the history of the Vikings of this unforgiving part of the world, alliances were commonplace. The tribes that lived on the furthest islands of the Archipelago were not usually affected by the dragon raids that some of the other tribes suffered, but they still endured them occasionally but the outer tribes did ally themselves with other tribes occasionally when a major crisis arrived.

And one had.

Codfish the Fury sat in one of the large throne-like chairs, shifting himself around to get comfortable. The chair was layered with layers of bear and yak fur, but it did little to settle the still present pain in his back. A few months ago his tribe had captured a Monstrous Nightmare that had been flying over his island, and his people had brought the beast down.

Unfortunately, the operation did not go off without a few snags. The first problem was the Monstrous Nightmare had been furious with the sudden attack, and it had fought long and hard to try to escape from the island where the beast probably knew it wasn't going to live long. The second problem lay in the fact the dragon had been brought down by a bunch of extremely bored and inexperienced teenagers who had needed to fire - a waste - four extremely good bolas and two ultra-strong nets, which compromised his islands security for the time being because there were still dragons out there, and any one of them could return to wreak a terrible revenge on his tribe. Granted, he hadn't heard anything about any attacks out of revenge or anger, but all the Vikings had been fighting too long against the dragons to not be cautious.

The third and most serious problem was the damage the dragon had caused. The teenagers who had snagged the dragon didn't have a clue how to properly trap and contain dragons, and while a few of them had gone through the Dragon Training course with the monsters in the Kill Ring before the arena compound had been broken into and all the dragons had been released, another crime to lay at the feet of the Dragon Pirate, none of them had gone up against a Nightmare.

Codfish still could not work out what in Thor's name they'd been thinking of, but what was worse was none of the teens had seemed to recall anything about teamwork, and they had been put out there doing chores for the island ever since they had learnt how to crawl.

The Nightmare had caused a large amount of damage to the village. Several houses had been torched at point-blank range before the Vikings who were more experienced and capable of taking on a Monstrous Nightmare even if they were a little bit out of practice, finally managed to subdue it enough to get it into the Kill Ring to prepare the teenagers for a lot of work. Unfortunately, several Vikings, including Codfish, had gotten burnt.

Codfish had managed to get away with terrific burns to his back and to his hefty large left arm, but some of the others were too badly cooked to work until they'd recovered. In spite of the pain the burns caused - the caustic, almost acidic nature of the Monstrous Nightmare's gases which were ignited were just as bad as the Nadder's went right into the skin, but where the Nadder's fire was hot enough to melt the skin all the way through like a super hot fiery spear of fire, the Nightmare's flames were not as painful, but took a while to heal - Codfish still went about his duties after he pushed the pain aside. It was more of a political choice of action in his mind; show the village that despite his injuries, which were series, but not as bad truthfully as the injuries suffered by the others, life went on.

It was the Viking way.

But Codfish really wasn't sure if he wanted to be here.

His village had been raided twice by the Dragon Pirate already, as had a few of the ships belonging to the merchants, but then he knew he and his tribe were not unique. The Dragon Pirate had personally raided the islands and the ships of various island tribes, but he had also heard rumours of the Dragon Pirate raiding a hub. Codfish wasn't too sure about that last one, even if it were possible - the Dragon Pirate was still just one traitorous kid who by all the tales about his origins, was nothing more than a splinter of a kid who had betrayed everything his own tribe had taught him, even if he had ended 300 years of pointless war with the dragon hordes, but if he did raid the hubs then he would need to do it extremely carefully since the hubs were basically large towns with three to five times the usual number of Vikings that you'd get in a small village.

But then, he thought to himself, if the pirate does raid a hub, then he would need to be careful with his plans.

In the end, Codfish filed that information away, though it would be pointless to spread it around since there was nothing the Vikings on the hub islands could do; they couldn't stop people coming and going from their islands. But truthfully the real reason he didn't bother to tell them was because, thanks to the idiotic Hairy Hooligan tribe, the tribe the boy had originally belonged too, had raised quite a bit of awareness about the boy anyway, and the chief of Nadder's Point hub had already spread the basic description around to the other tribes, and to the other hubs in advance before the boy turned to piracy. But there was still nothing they could do about it since they couldn't check every single person that came to their islands, and besides everything all came down to a few simple questions that dealt with numbers.

How many teenagers were in the archipelago?

How many of the teenagers were boys?

How many teenage boys had reddish hair, freckles, and green eyes?

How many of them were short?

How many of those teenage boys could work in a blacksmith shop, which was one of the most important businesses in the archipelago, since everyone needed tools and weapons to be frequently serviced?

And, why in the name of Odin was it he seemed to be the only person in the archipelago who recognised those numbers?

It was numbers, nothing but numbers, and truthfully the Hairy Hooligan tribe should have worked out that little problem a long time ago instead of letting things get out of hand.

Thinking of the Hooligans made Codfish momentarily close his eyes before he reopened them again - he didn't want to appear lost in thought here, even if the other chiefs weren't saying anything worth noting, anyway, but he needed to remain alert here. But the thought of the Hooligans, of Stoick and Gobber…

The three old Vikings were old friends, long ago, but time and distance had always pushed a wedge between them though they still often kept in touch sporadically and it did not help in the least the Things Stoick had attended were often too far away for Codfish to get too; the outer tribes lived in parts of the archipelago where dragons were not the only enemies, but there were other Vikings, humans, who caused problems, and Codfish and many of the same chiefs attending this pointless waste of time since no-one knew what the long-term plans were though everyone here was savvy enough to know there was a solution to the Dragon Pirate were aware the longer they were away, the more likely it was there would be a fresh crisis to find.

A loud banging made Codfish jump slightly, but he managed to rein in the reaction, and he looked for the source of the banging which wasn't hard to find.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YE!" Frostbite roared, his remaining eye bright with frustration and rage as he glared around the hall, banging the armrest of his own chair to emphasise his yells, though Codfish didn't know why since he was yelling so loudly when before everyone had been speaking in low - for Viking - tones.

Once he was sure he had everyone's attention, the old Viking chief who was by far the eldest chief in this room, who had been in power of his small tribe for years and didn't plan on retiring anytime soon even if his son wished the old bastard retired or died already, spoke up in a lower voice, but it was slightly louder than all of theirs a few moments before.

"This bickering is pointless!" Frostbite growled out, glaring at everyone here and the effect seemed to be doubled thanks to his one good eye. "Th' Dragon Pirate is the enemy, and the point we are here to discuss!"

Codfish spoke up, trying to stop the boredom seeping through him. "And what should we do, Frostbite?" Codfish asked with irony and a tinge of hidden sarcasm in his voice; he had used the same argument against all of the tribal chiefs in this room, and look how that had turned out.

Frostbite, however, seemed to have been mulling this over in his mind in a way far better than Codfish had. "We cannot try to hunt down his lair," Frostbite spat as he looked scathingly around the hall, evidently still irritated by the never-ending debate where nothing was really achieved. "All we can do is to fortify our homes, put our warriors on alert."

"We're doin' that already!" One chief yelled disdainfully, making it clear he didn't think much about Frostbites' idea.

The look the far more ancient chief sent back showed Frostbite had picked up on the insult, and Codfish's paw tightened over the handle of his axe, just in case there was a fight. But Frostbite did not move. Instead, he carried on talking. "I know tha'," he replied bitingly, "but I've started ordering bales of flamin' hay to be thrown up into the skies every night ta see if tha' unholy beast and tha' traitor is there flying! See," Frostbite's tone became more mocking, "I'm not some foolish old man, am I?" he cackled.

Codfish cringed at the mockery. Traded insults, harsh language, and punches were usually an occupational hazard in Viking politics, but there was something about the way Frostbite had just mocked the younger chief which worried him, and he didn't know why.

In any case, any worries about the potential consequences about the insults were pushed aside as virtually everyone in the room marvelled at the rather simple idea.

Maybe this wasn't a bad idea, after all, Codfish mused to himself as he shifted around in his chair before he remembered the Viking politics which involved shouting a lot, and he mentally groaned.

* * *

Gobber the Belch sighed as finished his rounds of tending to the village, and returning the orders of the villagers them. Stoick had been called away for some important meeting of the tribes, and he had left with Spitelout taking command of the village in his absence. Gobber's heart ached for his old friend, especially since Hiccup had been driven too far to become a pirate riding a dragon.

The story of how Hiccup had become the Dragon Pirate wasn't that surprising, and Gobber cursed Alvin the Treacherous for injuring his former apprentice so brutally Hiccup was now lashing out at all the Vikings in the archipelago.

Unsurprisingly given Hiccup's history and the stories filtering from Berk since the final battle at the Dragon's Nest, everyone was now blaming the Hairy Hooligan tribe for what their former heir was doing, completely ignoring the fact Hiccup had actually struck Berk six times already, each time worse than the last before Hiccup had decided enough was enough, and now he was giving Berk a wide berth. The fact Hiccup had struck Berk so many times wouldn't be surprising to those who knew him - Thuggory, Camicazi, or Dagur, given how those other heirs knew Hiccup actually hated Berk and his position on it, but the fact he had struck more times than he usually did was telling.

Thinking about the subject of heirs made him cringe for a moment. The Council were putting a lot of pressure on Stoick, as if he didn't have enough troubles on his plate thanks to Alvin driving Hiccup over the edge, and making him become a pirate who flew on the back of a dragon, raiding other villages and ships out there until only the very brave ventured out because everyone was afraid of the Night Fury Hiccup flew on, to find someone to succeed him.

Gobber knew Stoick was hoping to find Hiccup, but the blacksmith wasn't sure if it was possible. Did he really think the rest of the tribe would allow a traitor as they saw Hiccup to ascend to becoming a chief? Astrid was one of the biggest extremists, but she wasn't the only one; there were dozens of other villagers who probably wanted nothing better than to capture and kill Hiccup before Stoick would be able to do anything. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, never mind to his longtime friend, Gobber could understand their problems.

The tribe and the other Vikings out in the archipelago either wanted Hiccup dead for daring to fly a Night Fury, Astrid was selfish because she wanted to become a Viking warrior who lived a glorious life but those opportunities were now gone because she thought Hiccup had snatched them away from her without realising there were still many things she could do with her life. The end of the dragon war was not an end, but a beginning. What would it take for the teenager to see it?

But Stoick… Gobber had thought his friend was incredibly desperate to find Hiccup but did he really think getting Hiccup to take over the running of Berk was going to work since no-one would accept him?

Gobber didn't know. Nor did he know how the other heirs were taking the fact Hiccup was out there riding a dragon, raiding villages, plundering ships, but he hoped they kept out of it. Alvin had made things worse than they already were, the last thing the archipelago needed was for one of those teens to make some stupid mistake, and Thor only knew how far Hiccup could be pushed.

Gobber looked out to sea as if hoping to see his old apprentice and tell him to stop. He had heard rumours from passing traders who now only came to Berk simply because they needed supplies and money for their wares otherwise they wouldn't have bothered given their tangled history with the Dragon Pirate that many tribes were taking matters into their own hands and were trying to find Hiccup.

It was the dragon war all over again, he thought to himself though he'd had the thought in mind ever since he'd heard the news even before Hiccup had lost it. The tribes would become frustrated and fed up with the attacks, and they would get so riled up they would begin hunting down the culprit and then kill it before it could do more damage.

But Gobber knew it wasn't going to be that easy; looking back now, he was able to see clearly for the first time that the dragons during the war hadn't really needed to worry about any ship approaching; with the mists shrouding their island, and with some of their number patrolling nearby, they had the perfect defence.

Hiccup….

His former apprentice may only involve himself and that dragon, but Hiccup was not stupid. But what Gobber had problems working out was why Hiccup was still doing in the archipelago, assuming he was still here and hadn't left yet, which was one of the reasons he had probably left Berk after the way Stoick had disowned him.

Hiccup had a dragon, so why was he still here?

Gobber sighed and decided to go on with his work at the forge - the place was still empty, and he hadn't yet found an apprentice who was suitable enough to take Hiccup's place, but he hoped he found someone soon. The workload was increasing - and without extra help, there was only a certain amount Gobber could take.

The old blacksmith shook the thought off and looked out to sea, thankful he wasn't the only one who had problems, nasty as it seemed to think that.


	11. Chapter 11 The Teens leave

I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.

On another note, I am sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out, but I wanted to focus

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

As he walked through the streets of the village, Stoick the Vast honestly did not know how he was able to hold his head high; but as the chief of the island he had ruled for so long on top of being a veteran dragon killer although the need for that particular skill was no longer really needed nowadays since the war had ended, it was second nature for Stoick to perform his rounds with his head held high.

It had nearly been two years since the end of the war which had torn up the lives of thousands of Viking families over the last three centuries, and for the last year and a bit, Hiccup had been the Dragon Pirate.

He had raided dozens of islands, attacked and plundered the wares of dozens of merchants and traders throughout the archipelago. When the boy had begun, a part of Stoick had been afraid the anger of the other Vikings Berk was allied with. But Berk had been one of those islands that Hiccup had attacked and raided more than once, but what startled dozens of Vikings was how good Hiccup was at what he was doing out there, almost as though he had been a pirate his entire life.

He was better than any of the conventional pirate raiders out there marauding around the archipelago, but with that dragon there came certain benefits since it was well-known dragons were faster than boats and longships which had to cope with storms, waves, and numerous other hazards.

With such a speedy steed at his disposal Hiccup had quickly become the terror of the archipelago. It had become so bad numerous Viking mothers, or so he was told, had begun scaring their children that if they didn't do as they were told, the Dragon Pirate would snatch them in the middle of the night, scaring them with stories of the Night Fury.

Stoick honestly had no idea if he should laugh or weep since the thought of Hiccup, a boy who had never once lifted his fist to anybody in his life even though he had probably hoped he had the same strength of kids like Fishlegs and Snotlout so he could fight back, but looking back now and whenever he visited Gobber at his forge (he was worried about his old friend, just like Gobber was worried for him; Gobber hadn't yet chosen his new apprentice, but Stock knew his friend well enough to guess the blacksmith was going to wait until some other kid came along that would be perfect for the role, and so Stoick decided to leave it up to Gobber since it was his area), he sometimes came across the things Hiccup had drawn.

Even now it still astonished Stoick just how much Hiccup had been able to dream up, it was almost as though his brain which was much more radical and seemingly bigger than even Gobber's, or one of those other Vikings who had designed the compound that made up the former Kill Ring in the cliff, to come up with new and more imaginative contraptions. And all he had needed to design them was just a bit of knowledge in carpentry and forging, and he was off.

 _And I didn't see it because I was blind with frustration at ma son's talents and hurting 'cause of Valka's passing_ , Stoick thought to himself, cursing himself for his past mistakes.

Why was it every idea Hiccup had come up with over the years was instantly ridiculed, smashed to the ground, laughed at and used to humiliate him? The answer was quick.

No-one, not even Stoick who was the boy's father and the one looking out and encouraging his son's gifts, had believed in anything Hiccup had come up with, but that was mostly because whatever Hiccup had built, those fangled war machines ended up causing more damage to the village; Stoick closed his eyes in shame, mentally kicking himself for not listening to his son's excuses and apologies over the years as Hiccup had grown older.

As Stoick continued with his rounds, he headed towards the part of the village that Hiccup had raided the last time. He had personally seen his own son, the same son whom he had disowned, riding that black dragon, the same demon he had wanted to kill seemingly a lifetime ago when all of the things he had believed in had been so much simpler.

His son had been wrapped in a long black cloak that was ragged and a black mask that disguised and protected his features, though if the stories about Hiccup's new life were true, and Stoick still wasn't sure about some of them since many of them seemed too fantastic even for Hiccup, then the old Viking chief was unsurprised.

While many of the stories about Hiccup were probably really really bad exaggerations, Stoick doubted the story about his son being held prisoner by the Outcasts was an exaggeration.

When he had heard the story of what had happened to his son…. Stoick could not help himself, but he had found himself unsurprised Hiccup had gone over the deep end. Who wouldn't if they had been maimed in such a terrible manner?

Hearing how his son had been captured by the Outcasts had been bad enough since he knew Alvin would not let up on finding out everything he could about the skills Hiccup had gathered about training dragons, and maybe even more; Stoick wouldn't have put it past Alvin to have found out about Hiccup's quest to liberate all the dragons still held in captivity in the Kill Rings scattered on the various tribal islands, and the Outcast would have wanted to know everything Hiccup knew about the different defences of each so then he could raid, pillage and destroy the different tribes, but finding out Alvin had gone so far as to rip out one of Hiccup's eyes… No wonder Hiccup had become a pirate. Stoick could not blame his son for that.

As Stoick walked through the village, he noticed that some of the Viking warriors, particularly the younger generations, were not as respectful as some of the others, and even the ones that did only showed a mediocre amount of respect for him. It upset him but it didn't surprise him since many found his desire to get Hiccup back to Berk to be questionable, and more than one warrior had boldly asked him, their chief, if he was losing his mind at last since Hiccup was not just seen as a traitor for cavorting with dragons, but he was also a pirate who was responsible for plundering various islands.

Only a few Vikings - Gobber and Gothi among them - knew what he was going through. He had lost his family, but unlike with Valka who had been snatched in the middle of a dragon raid long ago and had probably been reduced to fine powder by now in some dank cave on that Thor be damned island that had been the home to that giant abomination, he had shoved Hiccup away simply because he had found a friend in a dragon, an enemy of Vikings everywhere. He had disowned his son, and he had made plans at the back of his mind that when and if he returned from the final hunt for the nest, he would drop the Night Fury's head into his former son's lap out of sadistic pleasure but also pain that Hiccup would shame and disgrace him and their family in such a manner, and personally shove him into a boat where he would fend for himself.

Stoick had not bothered or cared to think about the cruelty of the plan, but life was cruel and it was time for Hiccup to finally learn that - no more inventions, no more betrayal, no dragons or flying on the beasts.

Stoick held back the urge to sigh as he passed near the teens, noting their more visible disrespect though Fishlegs didn't seem to care as he read his copy of the dragon book (why he was so fascinated in reading and reading the same book over and over again, Stoick had no idea, and if he were honest he didn't care, but he'd noticed the hefty Ingerman kid seemed to be sporting a few bruises on his face that seemed more excessive than the average roughhousing encouraged amongst young Vikings), but he noticed the angry expression on Astrid's face and the clueless expressions on the twins' faces, while Snotlout looked at him with barely masked contempt. Stoick had noticed Spitelout's own sneers, but the other Viking was older and cannier than his son, who didn't even bother to hide what he was thinking or feeling from others.

He wasn't stupid. He knew Spitelout believed he was losing it, but he wished Snotlout would be more discreet.

In the end, aware nothing he said or did at this point since Hiccup was not here and none of his hunts to try and find his own and find a way to come up with a plan so no harm would come to him had worked, Stoick just went on his rounds. He was going on another hunt tomorrow morning for his son, and while all the arrangements had been made he was still having problems with some of the Vikings whom he wanted to keep an eye on in case they tried to take his island during his absence.

* * *

 _What happened to him?_ Astrid thought to herself as she glared at the chief's back as she watched him lumber away, knowing like everyone else the chief had ordered preparations for another hunt for the traitor. She sneered at the thought of the chief bringing back the traitor, and not doing the right thing, which was performing the Blood Eagle on him which was what every other tribe out there wanted to do for his actions against them.

Why couldn't the chief realise his son was a traitor, that he was not a Viking, and that he needed to be killed to put an end to these raids? What the Hel had happened to Stoick the Vast, she wondered to herself. He had been the perfect leader - decisive, strong, but now he was very weak-minded because he wanted Hiccup to come back, blissfully forgetting or ignoring Hiccup was wanted dead by virtually everyone in the archipelago.

It was at that moment Astrid had an epiphany. It would go against everything the chief had ordered of her, not to leave the island after banning her after that disaster on Nadder's Point. But she did not care.

She looked around at her friends, wishing she didn't need them but she did for this because she could not handle a longship by herself.

"I'm not going to stand for this," she declared, gazing fiercely at each one of them while she clenched her fist around her axe handle. "Our chief," she spat the title disrespectfully to make her contempt clear, "thinks Hiccup should come back to the island, but he's a traitor. Well, I'm going out there looking for him."

"Y-you can't do that, A-Astrid," Fishlegs said meekly, "remember S-Stoick's orders…"

 _What makes you think I care?_ she thought, about to open her mouth to give him the worst verbal beating of his life, but someone else got there first before the words even left her mouth.

"I don't care about his orders," Snotlout, surprisingly put in.

"Hiccup is a threat to our way of life, Fishlegs," Astrid glared at Fishlegs angrily, wishing she had punched the massive oaf herself. The twins, and Snotlout, missing their usual punching bag, had turned their attention to Fishlegs. They knew if nature had been less kind to him and he had remained small, then they would have taken great pleasure in beating two runts, but alas they'd only had one.

Astrid wished she had beaten Fishlegs because it would have gone a long way of making the oversized intellectual more afraid of her than he was in real life, but she had considered beating Fishlegs and indeed, Hiccup, as being beneath her. But there was still time to rectify that. Ignoring Fishlegs for the time being, she turned to the others.

"What about you?" she challenged.

Snotlout instantly got up, grinning at her lasciviously. "I'll definitely come with you, babe," he grinned.

While the thought of Snotlout flirting with her filled her with disgust, Astrid turned to the twins, knowing precisely what their answer would be. "What about you two?"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut glanced at each other before turning back to her.

"It's crazy," Rufnut declared.

"It's insane!" Tuffnut leered.

"We're in!" the two insane twins finished.

Astrid resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the twins' madness, but she was thankful for their support in this. She would need everyone she could get to go after Hiccup.

"What about you?" she glared at Fishlegs, making him quail in terror. The sight alone made Astrid sneer mentally. Fishlegs had been born a Viking, but it was clear that he was not a Viking, but there were differences between him and Hiccup; Fishlegs had accepted Viking culture whereas Hiccup had not. It was just that simple.

Well. It would be if the large fool accepted.

"Well, Fishlegs?" Astrid went on menacingly, lifting her axe for emphasis, not even worried about the other villagers going about their business. The villagers regularly communicated with their weapons, so they weren't worried about Astrid threatening Fishlegs, and if the bigger teen could not fight back, well it was his problem they figured.

The sight the sharpened metal blade which was hovering menacingly near him made the sweat trickle down Fishleg's face, disgusting the onlooking teens, but he sharply nodded. Astrid lowered her axe, glaring at him with a superior smirk of satisfaction.

"But," Ruffnut went silent as she looked seriously between her brother and then back at Astrid, "how are we going to find him?"

Astrid looked at the twin with a fierce look, inwardly wondering the same question herself. "We're just going to look," she said as confidently as she could before she handed out her orders, mentally cursing the gods that she had to work with others once more. "Snotlout, go to your father and find out if he knows anything else about Hiccup. Get to the docks as fast as you can."

"Right," Snotlout lumbered away while Astrid turned to the others, though she had no intention of trusting Fishlegs. "C' mon, you three," she said to them, "we've got a ship to steal."

Getting to the docks was very easy. With the day to day tasks at the docks, while the fishermen were working out at sea to replenish Berk's fish stocks, there weren't that many ships in the harbour, so it was a clear line to the longship that had been prepared for the chief.

Stoick had no idea how long it would take to find Hiccup, so he'd spent days organising the provisions of the ship; it was loaded down with bread, meats, vegetables, and fishes which was one of the reasons why the fishermen had left to replenish the stocks - another sign of the chief losing his mind, Astrid thought to herself since in the past Stoick had never in all of his life wasted so much food.

While they waited for Snotlout to arrive, Astrid tried to mentally sort through her plans and her ideas, but she didn't have long since Snotlout came running towards them.

He tried to speak a few times about what he'd found, but his lack of proper exercise meant he was reduced to panting while she waited impatiently.

Finally, he got out, "My dad knows what we're doing, and he's encouraging us, but he doesn't have any idea about where the fishbone is," he said.

Astrid was taken aback for a moment, but she was relieved someone had some sense. "Okay, get on board… All of you!"

The teenagers boarded the longship and Astrid cut the moorings with Snotlout and Tuffnut's aid while Ruffnut and Fishlegs grabbed the oars to pull away from the dock.

"Start rowing!" Astrid ordered the others, knowing it wouldn't take long before the rest of the tribe realised what they were doing; they needed to put a lot of distance between them and Berk if this was going to work.

They had managed to pull away from the dock when Astrid caught sight of one of the dock workers looking up for a moment, gazing at astonishment at the longship pulling away while he looked in disbelief. "Someone get the chief, QUICK!" he yelled, his call of alarm making everyone look to see what the problem was.

Astrid smirked when a few minutes later the chief himself came to the dock, but they had all pulled away at the oars so hard they were a fair distance from the dock, but they could hear Stoick's voice from where they were.

"GET THAT SHIP BACK HERE, NOW!'

Astrid turned to the others. "We go on," she said as they continued to pull away at the oars, and as they eased their bodies into the repetitive exercise, she knew that when they got back, if they came back empty-handed then they would be in for it, but she pushed that thought aside for the time being as she continued to row.

 _Soon, Hiccup_ , she thought malevolently to herself, _I will find you…_.


	12. Chapter 12 Found Again

I don't own How to Train Your Dragon, the drill should be familiar to you by now.

Hope you enjoy.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

It had become pretty obvious to Fishlegs the decision Astrid and Snotlout had made to leave Berk to hunt Hiccup down had been made on the spot without any real planning because none of the other teens knew where they were going to start. Not that it really surprised him since the teens always charged into action without really thinking about what they were going to do.

That was why he had been reluctant because he knew Astrid would have just gone wild, hoping to find Hiccup and to kill him and the dragon, not for everyone in the archipelago who'd suffered under the other Viking's attacks, but mostly for herself. For her precious honour.

 _Like Astrid thinks of anything else,_ he thought to himself _a_ s he pulled hard on the oar he'd been assigned to (under threat of being decapitated by Astrid's axe) _,_ and doing his best to ignore the ache in his shoulders, Fishlegs wondered how long it would be before one of the twins, or even Snotlout who was starting to realise they may have made a big mistake in coming out here without a plan, demanded to know where they were heading from their glorious leader who seemed to know everything.

It was night time, and the only light came from a few protected candles to stop the fires from hitting the deck and setting the whole boat alight and the light from the moon cast a shadowy hue around them all, making their faces ghoulish whenever he stared at one of the other Viking teens, making him avert his eyes quickly away so he could focus on his task.

Fishlegs knew the question was going to be coming at some point, but he knew it was not going to be him. He had been doing his level best to avoid the other teenagers who had turned on him as their favourite punching bag; one of the benefits of having Hiccup around was so then he would be the frequent target of the others while he hung around them so they'd see he was one of them, but deep down Fishlegs knew it was a lost cause.

Like the former heir, he was too different because he was more intellectual than they were, and he hadn't done well in Dragon Training to warrant respect from them, though Thor knew why he bothered.

Fishlegs cursed when he heard the twins gabbling away. He had been pulling for hours while the twins didn't bother to really pull themselves, but he didn't pay any attention to them even when Ruffnut pulled out her oar and, with a bit of effort to balance it, she started swiping it at Tuffnut since she had been arguing with her brother and vice versa more frequently for the last few days - the oar hit him in the head and nearly knocked him unconscious, but he thanked his Viking hardheadedness he wasn't knocked out. But his head was still ringing - he was dimly aware of Astrid storming over to the twins and yelling at them, and her loud and abrasive voice did not help his aching head any more than the twins' stupid fight had.

"….you idiots!" he heard Astrid yell at the twins dimly as though she were yelling from a long distance away, though what else she'd said before that Fishlegs did not know nor did he really care.

Fishlegs watched the twins look at the other before they both turned like a pair of wolves hunting a boar towards Astrid, their expressions serious for once. "Well, what do you expect Astrid?" Ruffnut asked with a sneer. "We left Berk four days ago. We ain't seen a ship, never mind a Night Fury."

Tuffnut nodded along with his sister's argument, but Fishlegs could see the restlessness on both of the Thorston twin's faces. The twins loved action and when they'd come on the voyage it hadn't occurred to them they would be spending a lot of their time pulling the oars while Astrid and Snotlout made plans for what they were going to do to Hiccup, or Astrid went out of her way to avoid Snotlout's company.

Fishlegs guessed he shouldn't blame the twins for that, but he wished they found something better to do with their time rather than hit or punch one another.

"Totally," Tuffnut said, breaking Fishlegs out of his thoughts. "Where is Hiccup anyway?"

Fishlegs rolled his eyes at the rhetorical question while Astrid's expression was stormy. Deep down she knew her decision to leave Berk had been ill-thought out, but what made it worse was she and none of the other teenagers knew how to navigate a boat. Deep down, buried under layers of Viking pride and Viking stubborn arrogance she knew they were lost, but she wasn't going to say a word.

"We'll find him," she said instead, her eyes narrowing with hatred for the disgraced heir of Berk, her mind flashing to the last time she had seen him during the night rushing towards that devil he flew on. It was bad enough he had disgraced himself, and he had been shaming the name of the Hairy Hooligan tribe with his antics and the way he raided the other villages and ships out there, but he had crossed the line with how he had attacked Berk.

She had to stop him.

Astrid spoke her promise with such conviction the twins could not help but mock her. "Right," Ruffnut leered, tilting her head mockingly. "And how do we find him, chant his name four times or something?"

Astrid's face narrowed even more tightly and she ground her teeth, and in the dim lighting around them, how the moonlight illuminated only a small amount of the Hofferson girls' face while the candles did nothing more than to highlight the girl's face, but the cast created by the shadows made her face appear more ghoulish than usual.

Fishlegs did his best not to cringe, but he couldn't help himself - Astrid was frightening at the best of times, but he didn't want to know what she would do if pushed too far on a boat in the middle of nowhere with her axe and that temper of hers, but the twins didn't seem to give a thought about pushing her, and he cursed their stupidity but he also cursed Astrid's arrogance which stopped her seeing beyond the blade of her axe and just answer the damn question.

Astrid's grip around her ever-present axe handle became even tighter as the mocking grew worse, which only served to make her angrier by the minute.

Tuffnut either didn't see the warning signs or he had but he didn't pay attention to them like always, grinned at his sister like the idiot he sometimes was, though Fishlegs knew the twins were much sharper than people thought. "Oh, yeah, let's do that shall we?" The male Thorston twin said jovially as he mocked the angry Astrid, but what he did next took them all - except perhaps Ruffnut - by surprise.

Tuffnut knelt down on the ground, and he held his hands up as if beseeching the gods themselves. "OH, HICCUP!" he boomed. "COME TO US, THOU HICCUP. HICCUP. HICCUP HICCU-Arrgh! Astrid, get off!" he ended up yelling desperately.

Astrid had leapt on Tuffnut, quite literally, and was proceeding to beat him up. Her leap on Tuffnut had taken Ruffnut by surprise, forcing the second girl back a few paces while Astrid punched and kicked her twin brother, yelling like a lunatic but Ruffnut recovered quickly.

"Like, what the hell, Astrid?!" Ruffnut shouted while she and Snotlout, who had been standing by the foc'sle and had been more focused on whatever it was on his mind to really care about what was happening behind him, that or his seasickness, tried to pry her off Tuffnut who was screaming he was very much hurt, only this time Fishlegs guessed the pathetic excuse was more real this time than it had been when the Terrible Terror had been let free during their Dragon Training course.

But Astrid would not let go. Fishlegs, despite not wanting to get involved, sighed and stood up, abandoning his oar at the same time - it wasn't like they knew where they were anyway, so what difference did it make? - and grabbed Astrid and, with Snotlout and Ruffnut's help, managed to pry Astrid off of Tuffnut.

The male Thorston twin was holding onto his face, but in the dim light it was impossible for them to see if there was any real injury, but Astrid was yelling like a lunatic. Fishlegs growled in annoyance when her elbow made contact with his chin while she struggled.

"Astrid, calm down!" Snotlout shouted.

Fishlegs wasn't surprised when he caught a tinge of worry in Snotlout's voice about Astrid's behaviour; everyone on Berk knew Astrid had a terrible temper at the best of times, but she usually kept it bubbling beneath an ice-cold facade, but when it ignited like Nightmare saliva with the full heat of Nadder flames, you had best duck.

But Astrid's temper had been getting her into trouble for a while now. Ever since she had nearly caught Hiccup at Nadder's Point where he managed to escape, she had been angrier, more surly and even more unreasonable than ever and she could often be heard muttering about her plans for murdering Hiccup. Stoick had banned her originally from leaving since that mess at the hub because she had gone off on her own like she always did, but Astrid had become more uncontrollable.

Fishlegs was snapped out of his thoughts when Astrid hit him again in the face, this time with the flat side of her axe, but then he felt the blade's icy razor edge scrape his face. At that moment Fishlegs snapped. He had had enough!

Without caring about the consequences, he ripped her axe out of her grip - Astrid tried to stop him, tugging on the wooden handle. He pulled back. There was simply no contest against his brute strength - Astrid may have finesse, but Fishlegs didn't care, and he threw it away to another part of the deck out of her reach, but he didn't give her the chance to do anything. With a growl, Fishlegs grabbed the scruff of Astrid's tunic and threw her over the side!

Astrid flew screaming into the sea where she crashed into the salty water with a massive splash which threw up water and foam with the force of the throw and the impact.

Ignoring the others, Fishlegs waddled over to the rail and scanned the horizon. He could just see Astrid thrashing to the surface. She was a fair distance away from the ship, but Fishlegs wasn't worried; Astrid had been taught how to swim when they were kids, and she had taken to it just like the rest of her Thor damned regimen.

She would be fine. Angry, wet, but fine.

Fishlegs winced when he realised Astrid was going to give him hell for what he'd just done, but he was unrepentant. Seriously, why did the blonde girl have to lose it over every little thing that happened around her? She was in the current mess she was in now because of that annoying part of her personality where she just had to do everything on her own. Fishlegs had always hated that side of Astrid, the side which said "I'm better than all of you because I'm me!" only it hadn't gotten her anywhere in these new times where the war was over and Hiccup was out there…

But overall he didn't feel guilty for what he'd done even if it wasn't really in his nature to throw people overboard, but Astrid was asking for it, and seriously what did she expect? Did she really expect everyone to just let her strangle or hit them? Sure, it was the Viking attitude, but something told Fishlegs there was more to it than that, but he just didn't like the way Astrid seemed to think she could endanger everyone around her and not expect something happening to her in return….

"Ouch!" Fishlegs yelped in shock when he felt a paw-like hand smack his head, knocking his small helmet off of his head, but he managed to catch it before it went into the sea; the helmet had been a gift from his parents, so it had some sentimental value after all.

"What the hell, 'legs?" Ruffnut shouted in shock, though Fishlegs caught something he was sure was respect in the female twin's voice rather than condemnation for what he'd just done.

"Oh, I was just fed up with it all!" Fishlegs replied with a wave of his hand which was almost dismissive. "I'm just so sick and tired of Astrid going off into one of her temper tantrums whenever someone questions her, or if things don't go her way."

"It didn't have anything to do with the way she had her axe pressed against your face right?" Tuffnut asked with a twisted grin, but Fishlegs had been hanging around the 'nut twins long enough to catch the glints in their eyes, and in this light, it was easy to see the glint in Tuffnut's grinning if sharp visage. He'd clearly seen what Astrid had done in her anger.

"You threw Astrid overboard," Snotlout pointed out, turning his gaze to look out to the sea. Fishlegs turned as well. He couldn't see Astrid from where they were, the moonlight was bright but it didn't light up the whole ocean.

"Yeah, I did."

Snotlout smirked at him, though Fishlegs could see, even in this light, the admiring look which didn't mix with the malicious look on his face which made him look even more ridiculously piggish in this dim light. When Astrid finally arrived, pulling herself into the longship, coughing and panting with the effort she'd expended just swimming back to her fellow teens and with the water she'd probably gulped into her mouth while she struggled to hold her head above the surface of the sea.

Astrid was dripping wet and water spilt all over the deck of the longship which created a puddle, water trickling off of her clothes and her pauldrons sitting on her shoulders, her usually immaculately braided blonde hair slick with water, dripping, looking it the braid was about to come unravelled at any moment, shaking from the cold.

Astrid looked up, still shaking, but when her eyes fixed on Fishlegs, the large Ingerman boy began to reflexively shake from the glare she was giving him.

She started to stalk towards him, ignoring the water dripping from every part of her body, her face mask like with rage. But Fishlegs pushed aside his nerves although he knew out of the two of them Astrid was the better fighter.

"Don't Astrid," Fishlegs snapped.

"Why shouldn't I, you great boar!" Astrid shrieked, the sound of her teeth chattering with the cold only making the sound even higher somehow. "I'll kill you for this-."

Fishlegs shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Go ahead, see what it will get you."

After a moment of staring at him while dripping and shaking from the cold, Astrid snorted. "What, so you're not going to fight back?"

"No. Killing me won't help you, Astrid. It won't change your standing with the chief, or anyone else back home, even if it is the Viking way. It won't change the fact we're still lost, will it?"

The logical argument grated on Astrid's nerves, and the girl clapped her hands to her ears for a moment. "STOP TALKING! You're just like Hiccup, Fishlegs; you're both talkative and you don't do anything but talk!"

Fishlegs didn't bother to respond to that little observation since it was mostly true; he and Hiccup did have a number of things in common, which was one of the reasons why they had hung out together before Fishlegs had started gaining the typical Viking physique and had begun hanging out with the other teens for protection so they wouldn't beat him up.

"So what are you going to do, Astrid?" Fishlegs asked quietly; he was tired, they were all tired, but Astrid's obsession was the only thing driving them on. "Kill me, kill us, and you'll be on your own."

Astrid paused as she considered the question. There was no doubt in her mind she was going to make Fishlegs pay the price for what he'd done to her, but, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed him. Fishlegs was the only one who bothered to row, the twins and Snotlout were all useless.

Just like Hiccup.

The second part of the statement went unnoticed since she didn't want to row. That was for underlings.

* * *

Hiccup smirked as he ran towards his dragon before he turned and fired his crossbow at the pursuing Vikings charging after him. On his back in a sling were the things he'd just stolen from the island's stores, just a few pieces of food that he wasn't able to make on his own island. _It's almost too bad I couldn't get through this without being seen,_ he reflected with slight regret, _but then again I'm used to this._

He saw the bolt hit one of the Vikings in the chest, but he paid him no heed though he didn't really have that much time since Toothless fired a couple of plasma bolts at the pursuing Vikings. Hiccup didn't need to turn around to see what the effect of the Night Fury's attack was having on the men - he had seen it all before on past raids. He knew the dragon had aimed the bolts at the ground to blast a couple of them off of their feet and he trusted Toothless to do the job of keeping the Vikings as far away from him as possible.

With smooth and practiced moves, Hiccup jumped onto his dragon's back and Toothless leapt into the air just as he'd clipped the straps into place.

As Toothless levelled off, Hiccup patted the Night Fury on the neck. "Thanks, bud," he said.

Toothless crooned at him.

"Not long to go now," Hiccup went on.

Toothless huffed and Hiccup had to restrain the urge to giggle at his dragon's reaction. Toothless clearly didn't believe him though Hiccup didn't think the reaction was too surprising given how he had been promising they would be leaving soon for months now, but between the time they'd left Berk Hiccup had been so…overwhelmed both with the prospect of helping so many innocent dragons who were locked up in Kill Rings waiting to be killed or tortured by their Viking tormentors, and with being free to explore the archipelago he'd decided to put it off for a bit longer. After all, he had plenty of time and he was still young (Hiccup still wished he knew how old Toothless was, but it was just another show of how ignorant Vikings were to dragons; as long there were a few basic facts and hints on how to kill them, then the Vikings would be happy).

Hiccup patted Toothless on the neck again and shifted himself a little to get more comfortable. "Let's go home to the island, bud," he said, deciding not to tell the dragon about his immediate plans to leave soon; it was a surprise, but he had no idea if the dragon hadn't already worked it out secretly. Toothless was a sneaky one.

Only a few more days and they would be gone from this part of the world for a bit, he wanted to check to see if there was anything else he could take….

* * *

Astrid was trying hard to keep the smug smirk off of her face as she and her fellow teens stretched their legs on another hub - a quick look around had confirmed it was not Nadder's Point, but another hub - after spending days on that damn ship. A part of her wondered how they were going to get back home, but Astrid did not want to leave just yet because she knew if they went back with nothing then the punishment for their disobedience would be severe, and Astrid had no idea just how bad it would be for all of them if they didn't produce either Hiccup or the head of that Night Fury.

Anyway, she was trying hard to project her usual aura of confidence on this island hub, instead of appearing to be openly relieved and out of her depth, like some of her peers were - Astrid was not sure if she should be embarrassed or annoyed by how open her fellow teens were, but like always she decided to just leave them to it.

Astrid had already had to endure their disrespect for the entirety of this 'voyage,' being thrown into the sea - she still could not believe Fishlegs had the courage to do something like that, and personally, if she lost her fellow teens Astrid would not regret it in the least. She was better off on her own in the first place.

In the meantime they would stop off for some rest, provisions for their ship, and a map so they could get back to Berk when the time came (Astrid wasn't looking forward to that, especially if one of the others made the mistake telling someone they came from Berk, or they knew _nothing_ about navigation - if they found Hiccup and killed that precious Night Fury of his, then it might make the Chief forgive them, and make him forget his earlier punishments), and they would also get to hear if Hiccup had done anything recently.

Now there Astrid was confident they would hear something. Hiccup had been making the news for so long there was little of anything else to hear.

She was looking forward to that, and once she had a map or something, she would be able to narrow down the places where they could find Hiccup. The trouble was it was a good plan in Astrid's mind, but the biggest problem would be putting it into practice.

* * *

As he walked through the town, wearing nothing but an eyepatch and a new outfit he'd gotten made for himself a while back by a seamstress on Nadder's Point which went with the helmet he was wearing covering the eye patch slightly. Hiccup had never worn a helmet before, but it was no wonder so many Vikings were cranky - the damn thing made him feel like he was balancing an ill-sized metal bowl on his head that kept slipping from side to side, shifting its weight from one point of his head to the next. Helmet problems aside, Hiccup more or less felt comfortable with his disguise, complete with a dragon fang necklace around his neck to make himself look more like a Viking who, despite being smaller than average, had done his own fair share of the fighting during the war and wasn't really happy about how it had ended, Hiccup was beginning to wish he had arrived on this island late at night. Toothless had flown him here at dawn because he had wanted to get here since many of the crowd on this particular hub would be suffering from hangovers. He'd lived on Nadder's Point long enough to know the pattern, and he had guessed it would be the same here.

 _It's just… hard to walk around with people noticing you,_ he reflected grimly to himself as he walked through the streets, his hand close to where his weapons were stored.

He hoped it was his imagination, but Hiccup really hoped the illusion he was making for himself was working and didn't make him look ridiculous. He sighed mentally, and just carried on his way, deciding to get this done, return to Toothless, wait until nightfall and then leave.

 _One second thought,_ Hiccup thought to himself with a grimace, _why am I bothering? Am I just trying to hold onto something here that I never really had?_

Resigned Hiccup decided to just cut his losses and leave the archipelago now. He would take Toothless back to their island, gather up what he would take and leave the rest, and then begin their travels. Hopefully Toothless would reach the frontier of the archipelago by dawn, but Hiccup wasn't worried about that.

Deciding to go back, Hiccup turned around on his heels and walked back through the crowd. He was almost at the edge of the town but then he winced. The stupid helmet! It had shifted again, and it fell off of his head and fell to the ground with a clang. Hiccup sighed and bent down and picked it up.

 _I swear_ , he thought angrily to himself as he picked the stupid thing up, _as soon as I'm in the air, I'm throwing you into the sea._

Hiccup picked himself up and resumed walking, but then he heard a voice that made him feel like an icicle had slipped down his neck, chilling his spine all the way.

"HICCUP!"

Hiccup swung round in reflexive shock and gaped in horror when he spotted someone he had not expected to see.

It was Ruffnut and behind her, looking surprised if gormless as usual, was her brother, Tuffnut. The Thorston twins had been looking around the market on their own for a while. Sometimes they had gotten into one of their periodic fights, but nothing had come out of them beyond a few punches to the face while the Vikings around them just ignored them as they went about their business. It was Viking tradition for kids to throw punches at one another to solve their problems.

* * *

The twins were both more than happy to leave the longship behind as well as the others. Contrary to what some might think the twins did occasionally like time to themselves, but the journey to this hub had really taxed their nerves. Snotlout had been his usual boasting self like always, mouthing off about how they'd catch Hiccup and the Night Fury and bring both back to Berk, but Astrid had been cold like always, sharpening her precious axe to the point where the twins placed bets on how long it would be before Astrid had worn down the sharp edge of the blade to the handle. Tuffnut guessed about a hundred years (earning him a punch and a kick), Ruffnut guessed it would only be a few days, but it hadn't happened, making Tuffnut smugly demand cash (which earned him a beating from his twin sister).

The only tolerable teenager on the ship had been Fishlegs, but he was always doing geek stuff so he barely registered on the twins' radar anyway except that time where he threw Astrid into the sea.

While the twins both knew they could have stayed with the others, they didn't want to spend any more time with Snotlout or Astrid, who was the worse. Fishlegs was the same way, but the oversized teen had gone off on his own, doing Thor alone knew what.

Tuffnut had been telling his sister a particularly dirty joke when they saw someone's helmet fall off of their head near the edge of the hub town. The helmet fell off of the head of another Viking teen. It wasn't truly funny, but to the twins' who both shared the same twisted sense of humour, it was enough to evoke a full belly laugh. Then they stopped when they caught sight of the features of the other Viking, who had a full head of auburn hair, and they both caught sight of the other Viking's face to tell who he was while he picked up the helmet and put it back on his head before resuming his journey out of the hub.

It was then the twins made their first of two mistakes; Ruffnut opened her mouth and yelled, "HICCUP!"

The renegade Viking swung around so fast Ruffnut and Tuffnut didn't get to see him move. Since when had Hiccup moved so fast? Ruffnut asked herself quickly, but she didn't have time to do anything before Hiccup began to run out of the town.

"Quick!" Tuffnut yelled and ran after Hiccup with his sister, which was when the twins made their second mistake which actually benefited Hiccup.

The twins chased Hiccup through the town, but they didn't bother to shout that Hiccup was the Dragon Pirate which would have had everyone up in arms, and he wouldn't have managed to escape from so many Vikings around him.

* * *

As he ran through the crowd and the huts, his legs stumbling a bit thanks to the unexpected exercise, Hiccup couldn't believe it as he dodged the crowd while trying to keep the distance between himself and the 'Nut twins; one of the benefits of being small and thin, you were able to get into places others wouldn't manage to reach or dodge, he couldn't believe the twins were here. And it was likely they weren't here on their own; Ruffmut and Tuffnut didn't have the brains to come out this far from Berk, so that meant the others were here as well.

Hiccup was relieved he hadn't been too far from the edge of the town. If he'd been in the centre of the hub, which he'd planned to do in order to collect the last bits he'd need to finally leave the archipelago before he decided to just leave and stop stalling, then he wouldn't be almost out. Once he was past the boundary, he risked a look back, and he saw that Ruffnut was now on her own chasing him, Tuffnut was gone, probably to get the others.

Knowing neither he nor Toothless would get much mercy from the teens if he stayed, Hiccup resumed his pace. This forest was a little different from the one on Berk, and because he'd just arrived on this island he hadn't had time to find hiding places which would be good enough, but then he hadn't expected to be chased from the town, especially by Ruffnut of all people.

 _Still_ , Hiccup mused to himself as he felt his lungs heave in air, reminding him of blacksmith bellows, _maybe I can find something…_

No. It was too difficult. In any case, he just didn't have the time, but he remembered how he'd managed to elude Astrid; he had only hidden behind that large rock because he knew it had been there the whole time, and Astrid had been too stupid to not think to look down. And the other times she had tried to find out what he'd been doing had been easy enough for him to avoid; Astrid might claim to be the best of everything, but she was unbelievably stupid if she forgot the first rule of hunting; don't let your prey HEAR or NOTICE you.

No, he had to think of another plan while he ran - straight through a low hanging tree branch which bent all the way back and thwacked him back in the chest, almost mirroring what happened before he had found Toothless.

"Oww!" Hiccup gasped breathlessly, rubbing his chest briefly and screwing his eyes up in pain before he opened them again… and then he spotted a small pile of rocks. Hardly surprising, these islands and forests had rocks dotted around everywhere. But hearing the sound of Ruffnut running behind him, snapping twigs, kicking through bushes, an idea entered his mind…

Ruffnut was panting slightly as she jogged through the forest, something she and her brother were both used to since the pair of them had been encouraged to train and to practice in the forest on Berk. Their mother had regaled them with stories of just how fit you could get running up fallen tree trunks at an angle, swim in small ponds, lift rocks (and bash your brainless brother in the head with them), and you could find trees or rock faces to climb up.

But despite all of that, Hiccup had managed to get ahead of her though it didn't surprise her that much. Ruffnut had never cared about Snotlout's dismissal of Hiccup, and how he was useless, even if she and her brother had gone along with it, and besides, could anyone blame them since Hiccup had never really done anything worthwhile though riding a dragon was cool.

She wasn't like Astrid and her short-sighted ideas about dragons. The war was over, and besides Hiccup had impressed her with doing the so-called impossible and improbable.

Anyway, back to the forest, the twins had often come across Hiccup, but they hadn't really bothered him that much except once or twice since they were kids, and besides humiliating Hiccup was fun. The point was Hiccup and Ruffnut were both used to running around in forests, and besides after being confined to a ship for days, she needed the exercise.

Ruffnut saw something as she was running. It looked like a figure, but before she could process it she was hit in the chest by something heavy… something hard that knocked out the breath in her chest, and she felt her legs collapse under her weight. The incredible pain in her chest seemed to stop time, but she could hear someone running off. But then a few minutes later, she could hear the sound of boots running towards her…

* * *

Hiccup was relieved when he reached the lagoon he and Toothless had discovered when they'd flown over the island at around dawn. The lagoon was essentially a massive rocky pit in the ground, as though one of the gods had taken a giant hammer and chisel and shaped the outline before using their power to tear all the rock out before filling it with water to create this beautiful lagoon, though he doubted they'd originally intended for the lagoon to be used as the shelter for a Dragon Pirate.

Isolated, surrounded by trees and with plenty of rocks near the lake, and a mile or so near the town, it was the perfect place to hide. Hiccup always tried to use places like this whenever he dropped his Pirate facade mostly for the nostalgia he felt as he remembered the fond memories he and Toothless shared of that cove on Berk, but this was neither the time or the place.

There was no doubt in his mind, by now, Tuffnut will have found the others and were even now on his trail. He knew the 'Nut twins. They, next to Astrid, were great at tracking in forests. It wouldn't take long for them to catch up to him.

As he raced into the cove, he blew a harsh whistle.

Instantly, from behind a large pile of boulders, safely hidden from any observer, a black dragon appeared. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his friend. Toothless instantly bounced over to greet him, but the Night Fury guessed something was wrong. He crooned worriedly.

Hiccup didn't slow down, he just kept running, confusing the dragon slightly, and making him croon in a manner the boy recognised immediately. Toothless was getting worried.

"We have to go, bud," Hiccup gasped as he reached his dragon and frantically mounted the Night Fury's back before he explained what was wrong, "they're here, Toothless. The teens from Berk. They're here."

Hiccup was just about to urge Toothless to fly when the Night Fury suddenly screeched in alarm, and Hiccup turned his head to the left though he already had a good guess about what he would find, and he was right. The teens had arrived, though it looked like Ruffnut was still hurting from the rock he'd catapulted into her stomach (he wondered for a moment if he had done some truly permanent damage, but he pushed it out of his mind; with any luck he wouldn't be here long enough to find out, though truthfully he had stopped caring about hurting Vikings, especially after what Alvin and his bastard Outcasts had done to him), since she was holding her stomach, and cradling herself and moving slowly, but he paid them little attention because the moment they realised he knew they were there, they took out their weapons - Astrid, Snotlout and Tuffnut, were instant, but Fishlegs was, as usual, reluctant but Hiccup didn't pay his former friend any notice. Whatever friendship had existed between him and Fishlegs was long gone, and besides what did they have in common anymore?

Without any instruction from his rider, Toothless decided to take the initiative to protect them while he gave them the time they needed to get in the air just as the blonde girl he'd seen before, the one with the axe, the one who wanted to kill his rider came charging towards him and Hiccup, the dragon prepared to fire.

"No!" Astrid yelled, brandishing her axe and running towards them like a madwoman. She looked it, too; her eyes were wide, flashing with a malevolent eagerness to spill blood. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME THIS TIME!"

Hiccup was momentarily taken by surprise by Astrid's anger, but before he could Toothless was ready. He fired two plasma bolts, one for Astrid, the other to the twins. The bolts were aimed close to where the teens were running, so the blasts knocked them off of their feet. The sound of the explosions shocked Hiccup back into the real world, and he encouraged the dragon to leap into the air.

Toothless was only too happy to comply.

When the dragon was in the air and gaining height, Hiccup closed his eyes in relief, but then he heard an angry yell from below. It sounded like Astrid, and he rolled his eyes. That girl simply did not know when to quit. But then he heard something like a whishing sound like something was being thrown, and then the sound of metal striking metal, and then….

Toothless cried out suddenly as he began to lose height for a moment before the dragon managed to compensate. _What in Thor's name was going on?_ Hiccup wondered to himself, and he glanced frantically at Toothless' wings, but there was nothing wrong with them, and the Night Fury wasn't screaming in pain. That left….

"The tail fin!" Hiccup shouted, and he glanced behind him. The sight that met his eyes filled him with horror. There was an axe wedged into the tail fin mechanism, the blade had also slashed away some of the leather which mimicked the natural tail fin of the Night Fury.

"She threw that stupid axe of hers into your fin! It's damaged the control mechanism!" Hiccup wailed in growing anger as they flew out of the lagoon and across the sea. Hiccup growled under his breath worriedly as he tried to control the tail fin. _Ooh, this is not going to be good_ , he thought to himself.

Hiccup turned his head back to the island he and Toothless were rapidly fleeing. From below there were a number of Viking boats and longships on the water, though whether or not they had spotted the Night Fury above Hiccup did not know and he did not care one bit. The ships and the boats could just have been floating planks of wood or flowers floating on the surface for all he cared.

* * *

I couldn't resist the Candyman thing. Just like I couldn't resist the urge to write Fishlegs throw Astrid overboard.


	13. Chapter 13 Time to go!

Well, this is the finale, but its also Part One of a saga. However, Part Two won't be up for some time. But please stay tuned.

Thank you all for liking this story.

Like before I don't own anything, I just wrote this out of an idea.

Please feel free to leave feedback.

* * *

The Dragon Pirate.

"C' mon, not far to go now!" Hiccup cried desperately as he tried to regain some degree of control over the tail-fin by repeatedly moving his foot pedal in the hopes the continual movement nudged the axe a bit while Toothless remained flying closer towards their island. He kept throwing worried glances over his shoulder at the prosthetic, and he was horrified as the tear caused by Astrid's stupid axe only became wider as it the leather was subjected to the stress of dragon-travel, but he needed to regain control.

He went on struggling with the pedal, but he guessed his idea was only making things worse but there was nothing else he could do.

His idea had worked to a point, he had managed to nudge the axe out of the way but it was still lodged in the tail-fin mechanism quite tightly but the good news was he'd managed to regain some control over the tail-fin, but he needed more if he was going to land the Night Fury safely without injuring them both.

The cry that had come from his mouth had startled Toothless's sensitive hearing, but Hiccup didn't pay much heed to his draconic friend as he struggled to regain control. The axe had made it virtually impossible for Toothless to be as acrobatic as he normally was, but Hiccup didn't care about that; all he was interested in was guiding Toothless to a safe landing site, his mind recalling how chaotic things had been for the pair of them in the early days when he had tried out the numerous adjustments of the tail-fin prosthetic. He didn't want to go through any of that right now, but it looked like they'd have no choice.

Hiccup looked down and saw they were at a respectable height in the air, but would it be enough? Without the tail-fin, it would be next to impossible for Toothless to fly properly, never mind slowly dive down.

While Hiccup had been struggling to control the flight of his dragon, he had been cursing himself for not doing more work on his dragon to make sure things like this never happened, but it had honestly not occurred to him someone might get a lucky shot like what Astrid had done. He had also cursed Astrid, the twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs, the entirety of Berk (except for Gobber and Gothi) to the deepest depths of Hel.

A metallic wrenching caught the attention of both Hiccup and the Night Fury, who turned his head and crooned worriedly, clearly wondering what was happening this time, but Hiccup's attention was already focused on the problem even though their island base was now not so far away, but when he turned his head the young renegade Viking realised things were capable of going from bad to worse. The axe was still wedged in the control mechanism, and while he had managed to regain control by continually using the pedal to adjust the fin he had also caused the fin to split.

Hiccup groaned when he saw the half of the fin caused by Astrid's stupid axe split even more due to his stupidity. _No wonder I'm getting more control for the tail-fin,_ he mused to himself in growing horror and he turned around and did his best to manage the flight back to the island. _I'm tearing the stupid thing apart!_

It took longer than it should have done, but with the tail-fin so badly damaged thanks to the axe and his own thoughtless stupidity and the stress of flying in the air, Hiccup managed to persuade Toothless to fly softly and slowly through the air while he tried to think of a way they could get back down again safely.

In the end he realised there was no other option, they would find out just how well they could land when they got there, but his mind still raced as he tried to think of a safe way they could fly through the air, find a landing site, and land, maybe not too gracefully, but safely on the ground.

He was shaken from his musings when Toothless was buffeted from side to side, and he quickly regained control, cursing himself for not being more alert. It seemed the Night Fury agreed with him because the dragon grumbled at him.

"I know, bud, I know," Hiccup sighed. "I was just trying to think of a way you can land when we get back to the island. I don't want us to go through another crash like we did in the cove."

Toothless grumbled again and he seemed to give a very human shudder at the memory of the event which had seen both himself and Hiccup in pain for hours, but Hiccup refused to think anything more of it since he still had the scars from the incident. The only good thing that came out of it was finally seeing the need for the harness.

Hiccup gave his dragon a consolatory pat on the head and looked around in the air while they travelled slowly through the air towards the island - slowly by dragon standards, but too fast for any Viking on the sea to do anything about them, which relieved him no end.

 _We have enough problems as it is without Vikings doing what they like doing most,_ he thought to himself as he methodically guided Toothless back to their island, but as he did he spotted something interesting not very far away.

An ordinary seabird was flying down through the air in a spiral towards the sea, and as Hiccup watched from where he was the bird snagged a fish out of the sea and he watched as the fish's silvery scales glinted in the sun.

"A spiral!" Hiccup shouted the epiphany. Toothless, stunned by the shout, nearly lost altitude but when it was regained the dragon smacked Hiccup in the face with his ear plate.

"Ow!" Hiccup rubbed his face and glared at the dragon with his one good eye, but he guessed he deserved it considering their current problems. "Sorry bud, but I've just had an idea."

For the next few minutes, Hiccup told Toothless what he had in mind. Toothless turned his head around as far as it would go, and Hiccup could tell the Night Fury was mulling over the idea in his mind. Both of them were, but Hiccup was also keeping in mind the tail-fin, with the damage he and Astrid had caused it, might not be able to survive it as they went into a glide down, but there was nothing they could do. They would just have to take the risk.

Toothless grumbled in the end, and Hiccup patted him on the neck sympathetically. He knew how hard this whole mess was for the Night Fury; the lack of a proper tail-fin was a sore point for the pair of them, and it did sometimes cause friction between the two even if Toothless was evidently grateful to him for being able to give him his flight back.

"Alright, bud," Hiccup whispered, "we need to find a way of going into the spiral without any problems…"

When they reached the island Hiccup had Toothless overfly the land to the small lake that was quite close to the caves that they'd adopted as a base. They both knew the lake was fairly deep, so if they needed to crash-land at least they'd have a softish landing. Once they were over the lake, Hiccup had Toothless tilt his wings downwards at a gentle angle while they fell in a controlled spiral down to the ground. The Night Fury beat his wings gently to give him some control over the glide so they didn't fall out of the sky too quickly while Hiccup slowly controlled the glide so the tail-fin wasn't needed that often.

Hiccup resisted the urge to pat his dragon on the head reassuringly, seeing Toothless was concentrating on the glide. They were almost landed and it was almost over. "Good boy," he settled for under his breath, glancing over his shoulder to look at the tail-fin, listening to the creaks and the cracks coming from the prosthetic. He winced at a particularly loud snapping sound, and he swung around to see the prosthetic split in half and come away.

Hiccup turned around in a panic, looking at the lake's surface and cursed. "It looks like we're going to get soaked anyway, bud," he said apologetically to the dragon.

Toothless huffed, but Hiccup got the impression the dragon didn't really care if it ended this mess. But fortunately their luck continued to hold since Toothless was able to hold onto his glide, and it didn't really require the tail-fin with the dragon's wings providing some stability, though it was still an uncomfortable flight downwards.

When the Night Fury finally landed on the ground safely, Hiccup took a deep breath and sighed with relief when he slowly unbuckled the harness and jumped off of Toothless' back, realising that, deep down, he hadn't really expected them both to land on the ground again.

"C' mon, bud," he said, "let's get something to eat. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

The Night Fury huffed and turned away, and Hiccup glared at the dragon. "Hey, don't be like that," he chided, "I know things have been rough recently," he rubbed his eye-patch absently and far from Toothless' line of sight since it would only make the dragon morose and the last thing he needed right now was a morose Night Fury. "But I've got something to tell you," Hiccup practically sing-songed.

Toothless warbled.

Lowering his voice as though he were about to impart a secret, Hiccup said, "We're leaving, bud!"

Toothless' head swung around so fast in the blink of an eye Hiccup didn't really see it. The dragon knocked him down to the ground, knocking all of the air out of his chest. While he was panting for breath which wasn't easy considering Toothless' weight, his attempts to breath were even more difficult with the Night Fury licking him with such enthusiasm Hiccup felt bad for keeping them here for so long in a part of the world neither of them really liked, not with a whole world out there.

Although it had been on his mind for a while, this was one of those moments where Hiccup was truly ashamed for keeping them here.

"Okay, okay," Hiccup struggled to get out, spitting out the Night Fury's saliva out of his mouth when it dribbled past his lips, but he forced back the urge to choke so he didn't drown on dry land. "Come on, bud, let me up so we can get ready!"

Finally, the dragon stopped licking him but after being pressed to the ground by Toothless' paws and the weight of his body and after being licked almost to death, Hiccup felt as though he'd been stuck to the ground, but he forced himself up, wincing when he felt the saliva sticking to him like sap from a tree.

"Oh!" he groaned as he struggled to wipe the substance off of his clothes. "Toothless, you know this stuff does not wash out!"

The Night Fury just laughed, even when Hiccup scowled at him. With another groan, Hiccup walked in the general direction of the caves, but the weight of the saliva on his clothes, never mind the stench, made him walk back to the lake and he walked into the water, ignoring his dragon's croon of surprise.

Once he was out of the water, dripping from head to toe, Hiccup walked towards the caves followed by a laughing Toothless. The dragon had figured out what he was doing, and he found it really amusing.

"Figures I'd have a dragon with a really bizarre sense of humour," Hiccup muttered sarcastically to himself which elicited another round of laughs from the Night Fury, earning more grumblings at mad dragons.

As they approached the caves. Hiccup walked in with Toothless and he began to check the supplies they would need for their journey. It was just a basic checkup - he and Toothless had been stockpiling things for their journey out of the archipelago for months, but it was still a good idea to organise everything.

In the meantime, Hiccup went to grab a new tail-fin for Toothless, thankful he'd made a few ever since he had become the Dragon Pirate. It had always been logical the tail-fin would be so badly damaged he'd need a fresh one at a moments notice. He'd had the time - between the pirate raids and experimenting with a prosthetic which would allow Toothless to fly on his own without any input from him, he'd had the time and the motive to further develop the technology.

And he was glad he had. If he hadn't then it would have taken Hiccup hours to forge a fresh tail-fin from scratch from his memory. Once he grabbed the new fin, he took it to the mouth of the cave and laid it down in preparation for the flight in the morning.

Once he was finished wrapping the tail-fin in a protective shroud, Hiccup turned to his friend. "I'm going to get some food for you, back in a few minutes," he said, grabbing a spear in one hand and a basket in the other before he walked out of the cave and went back to the lake.

* * *

When he was at the bank, Hiccup stripped himself of his clothes and he took a long wooden cane from out of his clothes and jammed it in his mouth while he wadded his way into the water, taking slow deep breaths through the tube, as he walked slowly through the water and let it rise higher and higher until it reached under his armpits, and he ducked his head beneath the surface, preparing himself for the pain in his one good eye.

Lifting up the spear, Hiccup began swimming gently through the lake, methodically spearing fish and strapping them to his waist before he returned to the surface and shoved the fish into the net before he went back down.

* * *

Ignoring the water dripping off him like mad and shivering in the coolness of the cave, Hiccup dumped the full net of fish on the rocks Toothless had taken as a bed. Instantly the enthusiastic dragon tucked into the slimy meal with gusto, and Hiccup took his leave of the dragon for the time being though he knew he would need to go back down in the morning and collect another load of fish.

 _Preferably a large one,_ Hiccup mused to himself as he wandered back to the fire Toothless had made during his absence, and he smiled at his dragon's intelligence and common sense while he went and prepared his own dinner of smoked boar, the animal he had trapped and killed only yesterday, and he ate the meat with gusto himself. Once he was full, Hiccup wandered over to his Night Fury, Toothless opening his wings instantly and they both snuggled into one another and went to sleep. Both of them had no idea what the future might bring, but they would face it together.

Well, it was time. Once he woke up in the familiar embrace of his best friend, Hiccup stretched to get the kinks out of his arms and back, and he yawned for a bit before he headed back out to fetch his dragon's breakfast. Returning an hour later with the fishes, he found the hyperactive Night Fury jumping up and down outside the cave.

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup opened the net and poured the fish onto the ground, leaping back instinctively when Toothless leapt onto the fishes and immediately began to eat everything in sight with a speed that made Hiccup worry for the dragon's gag reflex.

"Hey, calm down, bud! Eat all that slowly; I dunno how long we're going to be in the air for. It could be hours before we get another bite to eat!" Hiccup chided his dragon, rolling his eyes at the Night Fury's greediness.

Toothless huffed through a mouthful of fish.

Rolling his eyes again, Hiccup walked back into the cave and went for his own stores. He ate some of the cold pork he'd cooked the night before, some apples from a tree he'd found, and he washed it all down with some water.

Once he'd had his full though he grabbed another apple to eat, Hiccup began getting some food and water ready for himself for the flight ahead, knowing that Toothless was capable of diving down to snag a few fishes from the sea to keep him going though he'd need a large quantity later on. He tied the food and water into small bundles and placed them in the saddlebags.

The easy part was over, then it was time for the hard part.

Hiccup went into the caverns where he'd stored the parts he'd prepared for the flight ahead, and he grabbed as many as he could carry and took them back to the smaller saddlebags he'd mounted on Toothless.

The Night Fury had four saddlebags - two on both sides - two would be used to carry Hiccups' food, clothing, possessions, maps and sketchbooks and journals which he planned to use to document everything that he saw on his travels with Toothless, and even carry one or two souvenirs he planned to get over time. With the help from the travellers he'd run into on Nadder's Point, Hiccup had been able to draw a rough map of where they could both go.

The travellers and the merchants he'd encountered had been delighted by his interest, and while a few of them had reminded him somewhat of Trader Johann, they'd told him a great deal about what lay beyond and they'd shown him their logs and their own journals to further interest him. Hiccup had made copious amounts of notes from the people he'd spoken to while he'd used the hub as a small base while he did work on Toothless' tail-fin and made new parts and gathered supplies to leave the archipelago behind - the unexpected visit from the Berkians had stopped him from finishing the map among other things, so he'd been left with whatever information he had left on the notes, and used them to draw this map out as best as he could, but Hiccup knew this map was still too vague since the traders and merchants he'd met at Nadder's Point had set a specific course, so they didn't all know what was out there, but still it was a good idea to get some knowledge of what to expect.

Sure, he knew the map wasn't entirely complete, but he had gathered enough knowledge out of the journals to make a few educated guesses, and they had included maps of their own journeys to help him draw out the new copy. It had taken Hiccup months to draw the chart, but it was a start. All he would need to do was go out there, see what was beyond Viking knowledge, and look for more.

His days as the Dragon Pirate… well, he wouldn't say they were completely behind him. He figured he would still use Toothless as a weapon to fly to various places, raid them for what he needed, only he would continue on his journey.

Gathering up the tail-fin prosthetic he'd left in the cave's entrance the night before, Hiccup went out to Toothless, who was bouncing about everywhere in eager anticipation, but the moment the Night Fury caught sight of him Toothless did his best to calm down and let him attach the fin to his tail.

Once he was finished, Hiccup led Toothless away, but then he paused and looked deep in the bushes near the cave. Toothless crooned and warbled worriedly, gazing at Hiccup in concern and was clearly interested in why his human rider had stopped. But Hiccup didn't notice his dragon's reaction.

A metallic shine had caught Hiccup's eye just as they were nearing a small clearing that would be perfect for them to lift off and begin their journey to… wherever, and he turned and walked towards it to investigate it properly, wondering if it was one of his inventions he had just left out in the open. He killed that thought when he found what was creating the shine.

It was the old tail-fin and it somehow still had Astrid's axe stuck in it.

Hiccup couldn't believe it, he had thought the remains of the old prosthetic, never mind the axe, had been blown much further away.

But no.

For a moment Hiccup wondered if Loki had purposefully manipulated the wind to bring the damaged and battered prosthetic to the ground along with the weapon to spite him. Hiccup bent down and examined the prosthetic up close with his good eye.

The leather was torn and ripped in places, and the metal frame was bent and warped which was a clear sign of metal fatigue. But what annoyed Hiccup the most, and it was slightly petty of him though he couldn't help it, the axe itself was still intact. Sure, the weapon was still the same sharp, powerful thing Astrid had always favoured in a fight, but not even the sight of the dents in the iron filled him with pleasure.

The sight of the weapon lodged firmly in what was left of the fin's control mechanism filled Hiccup with warring emotions- fury was the most prevalent. He had made both of these objects with his own hands, and he had repaired, fixed, and sharpened both of them respectfully, but between the tail-fin and the dented but still sharp axe he knew which one he preferred.

That self-important bitch had nearly killed him and his dragon, hounding him, hunted him. She had sold him out to Stoick and the others, but that wasn't enough for her or her precious family honour.

No, she had twice gone out of her way to track him and Toothless down to kill them both. He had seen it in her eyes when she'd thrown this very axe into the tail-fin mechanism, fanatic obsession. She wanted to kill him. If they ever met again she would likely not hesitate to try again and the second Hiccup realised that he felt his own temper begin to burn, just beneath the surface.

Hiccup glared at the axe with his one good eye, finally giving to the rage that had been festering within him. Lifting up his head, his face white with anger, Hiccup shouted into the air, scaring what few Terrible Terrors who mingled with the birds of the island, and startling Toothless himself with the uncharacteristic anger.

"I'll get you for this, Astrid!" he yelled. "I'll restore my dragon's tail-fin to what it was! I'll come back one day, and when I do, you will pay! You hear me, Astrid, you will PAY!"

* * *

The End of Part One.

Please don't tell me Hiccup wouldn't declare revenge against Hiccup - this is a totally different version.


End file.
